Logo needed for start-up product design / development group

Popo Agie Group

The Popo Agie Group LLC (pronounced "poh-poh-zhuh") is a start up company aiming to support the creation, development, and market testing of new consumer product ideas.

"Popo Agie" is a Crow language phrase meaning "head waters" or "rushing river" - it is the name of a river in Wyoming that disappears underground and then resurfaces 1/4 mile away. It takes water over 2 hours to pass through the underground segment, and more water resurfaces downstream than sinks underground upstream (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj1fps_tp9w for more on the river). We chose the river as a symbol of the creative design and development process - a convoluted process in which more comes out than went in.

We focus on nurturing product ideas that create new product categories for niche markets and require limited capital for initial prototypes. As such, the specific products we support are highly varied - current projects include infant clothing, interactive artwork for elementary schools, and on-line products to support continuing adult education.

The main audience for this logo will be potential clients, vendors, and partners interested in becoming involved in our specific area of product development. The actual products and brands to be developed will have their own distinct identities (hence this being the first of many potential contests), and the Popo Agie Group logo should stand separately from all of them.

Our group of clients/vendors/partners will be similar to those for a venture capital group or an angel investor. We aim to provide a similar service for product ideas with capital requirements that are too low to attract the attention of venture captial groups. This would include inventors and designers, entrepreneurs, contract manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.

We are looking for a logo that gives a sense of professionalism and trust that comes with a close partner or advisor, while also reflecting the importance of creativity and innovation in product design and development.

Our initial concept was to have the company name in a simple, professional typeface, with the pronunciation of "Popo Agie Group" in the International Phonetic Alphabet (poʊˈpoʊʒə gruːp) directly below it written in a style and coloring like a Leonardo da Vinci schematic (that is, a reddish-brown or dark tan color and a style like a manual draftsmen sketch with guidelines behind the letters).

While we would like to see some designs like that, we are certainly not wedded to this intial concept and are very interested in seeing where others might take it.

A few specific considerations:

1. No Cartoons - we want it to be simple and very professional looking
2. The typeface for the company name should be clear, simple and professional. We want something that conveys tradition and experience.
3. Less is probably more, although we don't want to be as minimalist as most venture capital logos.

The files we will require are:
Print file format - .ai (CMYK)
Web file format - .jpg and layered .psd (RGB)

Please do not use any stock images or clip art in the logo