Anyone care to critique my maker's mark?

I agree with Karl and the others about the name only. I use my first initial and last name. J. Doyle

I think it would be pretty rare for another K. Krueger to come along and mark his blades like that.

Personally, I subscribe to the less is more aspect and feel that a maker's mark should clearly identify the maker but at the same time be as unobtrusive and the least distracting as possible.

Here's another thing to consider: As you progress and make more knives of different and unique styles, you may find yourself having to place your mark in odd spots. Anything more than just a simple name will be difficult to put anywhere but on the main bevel of the blade.

Personally, I find that most (not all) logos that include a name, location and/or picture out on the blade to be too big and too distracting. There are a lot of people that agree. I've seen collectors comment many times that they would buy a knife except they hated the logo on the blade because it was too big, too detailed or too distracting.

But I've never ever seen a potential buyer say they would buy a knife but wish the makers mark was bigger, bolder or out on the blade more. :D

Just some food for thought.
 
Just south of St Croix Falls.

Kurt Krueger said:
After hearing the feedback to scale back to just the name, I did think about using the knife profile as the vertical leg of the K. Might just do that, haven't had time to digest all the feedback, just yet, so it's still fluid.

Western WI, hmmm, Hudson, Somerset, St. Croix Falls, New Richmond... I have work with a supplier in Somerset since about 1994, so I'm fairly familiar with the area. Small world.

-Kurt
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Thanks for all the sound advice everybody. You've convinced me to keep things simple and just use my name. I just need to find a font that I like and is conducive to stenciling.

-Kurt
 
rhinoknives said:
If you have a website you can just put the www.krugerblades.com
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I like the simple also, and if you're planning to be active and trying to sell knives, you surely do NEED a webpage, and not just a facebook page. Webpages are so cheap these days and having your own domain name is easy, I agree with Laurence, just domain name on blade, but I'd lose the "www" and go for just "krugerblades.com" - OR some other domain name, but as simple as possible. This days I can think of no names that really require the "www". In the early (very early) days of internet you had to enter "http/:" before the "www". Lots of typing for URL back in those days.

Even think about two logos, one VERY simple with just domain name for small spaces, and another with domain name and simple design of some type.

Ken H>
 
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J. Doyle said:
But I've never ever seen a potential buyer say they would buy a knife but wish the makers mark was bigger, bolder or out on the blade more. :D

Just some food for thought.
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J. D.
That is so true, but I would like to add to that, that I have seen myself, and that was for the makers mark to be more legible. The specific one i'm referring to is one I have, the second custom knife I've bought, before I took the plunge into making, it is an exquisite folder made by Mark Laramie, it is simply a stunner! But the maker on it can not be read easily, it took a ton of work and a bit of guessing to figure out who made it! what is so crazy to me is to make a piece that perfect and not have your name be easily read is akin to not marking it at all! Ive often wondered how many people would have tried as hard as I had to, discover the knife's secrets!?!? I know they are some, and judging by the price I paid for it, I ventured to say the seller didn't recall or know!! He has gone on to make some nice stuff, yes even nicer than the one I own! Nice guy too, but no-one would have known that if I had'nt been persistant.
So guys new and old to this obsession, your work is only as good as your mark, or as I like to think of it, a calling card, the very best business card you can invest in!
Rex
 
Thanks again for all the input and suggestions.

Here's a picture of the first knife that bears my maker's mark. It's for my mom, she broke a favorite paring knife a while back and I said I'd make one to replace it. It's O-1, HRC 62, 600 grit hand sanded finish. Scales are paduk with 416 SS pins and brass & stainless mosaic pins. Getting the appearance I wanted on the mark took some experimenting. I built an etcher using a 12/24 volt transformer and got my stencils from Ernie and used chemicals from USA Knifemaker. I think I'm satisfied with the results.

-Kurt

DSC02838.jpg
 
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Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate the time you've all spent reviewing and providing feedback and advice.

-Kurt
 
Your mark says all it needs to say, looks good, and looks god on a good looking knife. Nice!
 
Kurt,
I might be too late for this party but I don't care much for the state or the blade shape on your logo. I also think this logo would look good only on semi production knives that you semi mass produce and not on your "one off" custom knives. I believe your full name should be on your best work and charge extra for those knives. Most makers have several logos that work on different sizes and price ranges.
 
Bruce Bump said:
Kurt,
I might be too late for this party but I don't care much for the state or the blade shape on your logo. I also think this logo would look good only on semi production knives that you semi mass produce and not on your "one off" custom knives. I believe your full name should be on your best work and charge extra for those knives. Most makers have several logos that work on different sizes and price ranges.
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Thanks for the comments Bruce. The shape of the knife in the original image was just a rough sketch (I was getting free time from a neighbor who's a graphic design guy and is really busy with a couple of kids, so I didn't want to waste a lot of his time on a first draft.). That being said, the consensus nixed the artsy mark in lieu of a simple name. I toyed with adding my first initial, but didn't like that as much, and feared that my full name would look too long.

I never really considered multiple logos, and I'm new enough at this that I haven't sold anything yet, so I guess there's still time to evolve.

-Kurt
 
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