The "after" image is all my design. I think it streamlines the logo quite nicely.

They are an asphalt road construction company.

What do you all think? they have not given final approval yet, but i am certain they will....

I really like the way you arranged the copy on the after...easier to pick up fast and a moderner feel to boot! (I like the diamond too! hehehe)

I would play with the "T's" and the amphersand a bit though.

My first brain fart was make both the t's look like "road" and tie em together with the apmphersand as a clover leaf road thingie, but leave a white "cut" area between the letters and apnphersand, and outline them with a red pinline (with a white inline area the same thickness as the "cuts")

(If yer not confused at this point...i can continue?)

Make sure to build the outline in such a mannner that you pay attention to how the letters "meet" so you can enhance their seperateness from each other, despite the fact they build a whole, that is uniform.

um...if you have a hard time seeing this, maybe I can draw this up for you and email it. I don't have a way to put it on here till I get my domain name nailed down and a website to ftp to. (still shopping for a stable gig that can whoosh (download fast) for dial up folks) But email can help here.

Here I go again, into an area I don't belong.

Try dropping the white square off the ampersand-- it competes for attention. The only other thing I would suggest is separate the letters more in "materials". The "als" especially run together making the whole word tough to make out.

The overlapping letters look stylish to me, and I would not kern them out unless the client takes issue with the layout.