My first blush: it isn't about dating advice.

But it could be about chemistry. But it is more than that.

Doesn't make me go wild, but it also doesn't leave me cold. Talk about luke warm.

Interesting ad: "Ask a psychic 1 free question". Directly above your Reason.com plug.

Thanks so much, I R A Darth Aggie.

And I do love the placement of these ads sometimes!

Any comments on colors?

To be honest, I flinched at the image of drinking from what is clearly a flask (beaker?) meant for laboratory use. Horrific.

Seems OK to me but not great. Might good for an individual (or very short series) of shows.

It sends the message to me that the show is going to be heavily (almost if not exclusively) about couples & dating and is going focus on the physical aspects - actual chemistry, etc. not just "chemistry" There would not be statements like "Jill likes that John shares her interest in Mexican pottery" but there might be something like "The awareness that John also is interested in Mexican pottery stimulates Jill's something other which causes the release of the peptide FeelGood which Jill experiences as feeling connected with John." If it just about relationships I would say to change to a regular cup.

I am not fully clear what you intend to have in your show. My initial thought is that is a good logo for a different show. Now it is reminding of a weekly column that was about loans - The marker/logo was of house and it seems the guy started out as a mortgage expert but the column mostly focused on other stuff.

I'm with The Former Banker - it looks like you're going to focus on dating. I like the style of the art, though.

Your comments are really helpful. Please keep 'em coming.

Amy, with the man and woman, the flask and the words "between us", I think it sure gives the impression it's about chemistry. But, as you said, maybe that doesn't matter.

I love the design; I think it's provocative and sexy. I especially like the look of the woman's lips. I also love the deep coral background color; that's also very sexy. I'd like to see what some kind of red (crimson? burgundy?) tint in the HUMANLAB lettering and the silhouettes would look like -- I think that would go well with the deep coral -- but I think the brown color is fine.

It's definitely eye-catching. If I was walking by a display of books and this was the cover on one of them, it would really grab my attention.

I think it is okay for a show about human behavior science to feature sexual attraction in it's logo, even though that is not the only topic. After all, it is an important aspect of human behavior, and most people have some interest in it.

Is HUMANLAB meant to be one word? It looks like one word. Also it might look better white, though I'm not sure about that. (By white I mean the same color as the other text, which is probably ivory cream, or some such.)

I think the designer has a lot of talent. I think it's a great logo though not quite on tune with how I perceive your podcast.

I think the flask and the large silhouettes do a reasonable job of suggesting this is about psychology more than chemistry.

I wonder if it might be improved if

"betweeen" were changed to "of" and potentially
another silhouette could be added in the background to suggest this is about people all of the time, and about sex and romance some of the time.

Perhaps one person drinking from the flask, or even three people sipping from the same flask?

(Maybe one of the straws should be a truly krazy straw)

Don't know if this helps; but, here's my two cents worth:

Overall, the logo comes across to me as something about dating.

As for the straws and bubbles in general, I like. They add to the "intrigue." Makes me wonder what is going on. Bubbles, being of a temporary nature, give the impression of movement. This also adds to the "intrigue."

The couple are almost a mirror image of each other; yet, it is good that they are not. It is also good that the straws are mirror images, yet, the bubbles are not either. The gives just the right "catchy" impression.

The colors, I actually like: kind of mellow, yet also intriguing. Brighter or flashier would not be as interesting. Just a few colors instead of a whole palette full are great. So, I think they are perfect.

The silhouettes are good. They seem to have enough detail, such as full lips, her eyelashes, and the part in his hair, that they seem more than just silhouettes; yet, without too much detail allowing them to remain as silhouettes. The idea is sort of like we don't need to see every detail; but, get an overall impression.

Overall, I like it.

I find the background color rather off putting. It seems rather wimpy/bland. I'm not artistic at all so I don't know if this is the right phraseology; but something brighter or more vibrant would be more appealing.

The colors and idea are good but like others have said, too evocative of dating. Maybe swapping their profiles so they face away from each other? Rather than drinking from the flask, the flask feeds into their brains? So, overall, on the right path and possible to build on, but not quite there.

The woman's profile slopes out suggesting a massive bossom.

The guy look like his neck drops straight to his nipples and he is wearing an stiff turtleneck high than his adams apple.

I dont know if making the "hair" slihtly darker might highlight the impact or not, but a compare and contrast would be nice.

Also I dont know if it the shifting hue of the background coupled with the white of the webpage it sits on but to guy's color looks a shade darker.

Given how slight it is, I'm guessing that just my eyes playing tricks on me. But keep it in mind when positioning the logo on the page.

Finally the guys hair split kinda looks like a turtle beak.

"HUMANLAB" is highly negative to me, for complex reasons I am trying to understand. I know there are a zillion charlatans out there trying to improve on Dear Abby, and I am not sure this seperates you from the pack far enough...

Thank you all so much for these thoughts. Really helpful. I'm going to reflect on this for a few more days, so feel free to add to the comments here.

Yes, HumanLab is one word.

I like it. I go with what JD said, if you walked by, it would catch your eye. It does flow with the content that it's marketing for you, as best as possible, and whoever did the colors and shading did a fantastic job with that. If it draws your attention and it's not too busy, go with it.

My only thought is you might request a small logo for certain functions, like HumanLab with a flask and bubbles right beside it, the same way Starbucks has the green logo, so that you can use a smaller logo for email/marketing things. that would be a very busy logo shrunk down to smaller size.

I like it, but I think the monochromatic background seems to lack something. Maybe darker color up top, gradually shifting to a brighter color where the two silhouettes' faces are?

Maybe darker color up top, gradually shifting to a brighter color where the two silhouettes' faces are?

One of us needs to get our eyes checked because I thought it did lighten as it dropped

"One of us needs to get our eyes checked because I thought it did lighten as it dropped"

You're right, it does. So it's probably me. I was thinking of a shift to a whole different color, maybe.

Hmm.. It looks like it hints the "Two dudes kissing or a candle holder" illusion. I think I know where the artist took the inspiration:

http://i39.tinypic.com/oqhvyu.jpg

In any case, I suggest replacing the straws for a caduceus.

Any comments on colors?

The gradient fade is good. The people colors are meh. Probably the best choice if you're trying to show abstract persons.

But the dude's hair? that turtle beak? Has. Got. To. Go. Almost like he's got a hawk sitting on the other shoulder. Is he a Marvel Avenger?

The first thing I thought was that it was about the chemistry of dating and finding a mate. Then I thought the context was much broader and science and chemistry has everything to do with the broad spectrum of chemistry and society.

I thought about how pregnant women become attracted to the familiar scents of relatives and tend to surround themselves with family to protect their future offspring and how fertile woman are attracted to those that have unfamiliar immune systems. This subliminal scent tracker is another facet of the amazing system in place to insure our survival.

Then I thought about other relationships such as in the office and how women band together and men fight their way up the career ladder to become alpha males and more appealing mates.

And I'm brought back to the logo. Perhaps that IS what all human relationships are about in the long run.

Great logo in my opinion if those kinds of thoughts are in line with your premise.

It looks like something you'd see on a t-shirt, but I think it's colorful, compelling, and podcast-y.

I like the concept but I am not crazy about the color or the *bigness* of it. Could not tell what I was looking at, without either looking at my tablet from about five feet away, or moving my eyes around the picture until I could put together what it was.

I would love to see it a bit more Art Deco, with less busy silhouettes, and smaller.

Amy, the only thing I would suggest is that the bubbles should be more than just dots. An outline with a highlight would work better for me. Perhaps the same treatment on the straws as well. They just seem too flat and decorative and I lose the three dimensional feeling I get from the human figures.

The salmon color I like, although colors are different on everyone's monitor so some may see it another color.

The silhouettes are good as is the typeface. The kerning on Humanlab means I can't decide if it's one word or two, and that may be the idea you were going for.

All in all, it's very catchy!