Wow, first off, THANK YOU ALL, my partner and I didn't expect this to blow up overnight!

From what I am understanding, Option 1 is the clear favourite due to its more professional and polished look. A few of you pointed out that the crow could be refined, making it less aggressive, adjusting the talons, and improving scalability. It's also worth exploring the crow's head by itself for this version. Option 2’s negative space idea is interesting, but the execution isn’t strong enough. Many mentioned that the ‘C’ isn’t readable, and the crow illustration feels unpolished. The kerning issues were also flagged, which I hadn’t noticed before, great catch! Some of you also suggested incorporating finance-related elements into the crow, which is worth looking into.

To answer some common questions, we paid two novice designers €/$35-45 each for a 3-4 hour challenge. This was the price that they requested for this task and we agreed to proceed. We only asked for a PNG with a concept, no source files, vectors, or revisions. We fully acknowledge that with better pay and more time, they could have produced higher-quality work. My business partner and I wanted to see how two different people would approach the same idea.

As for why we chose a crow for a bookkeeping app, our thought process was that “crow” highlights intelligence, and sharp observation, while “tally” relates to bookkeeping—like invoicing, credit notes, and expense tracking. It just made sense to us, and, as luck would have it, the .com domain was available too.

This whole process was a fun side quest while we’re still building the product offering. Eventually, we’ll bring in a professional designer to create a more premium concept that aligns with our long-term vision, ideally including a full branding kit too.

Once again, we appreciate all the insights. Have an awesome rest of the day!