I thought about what David told me yesterday about the DM logo. So I focused solely on generating more logo ideas today. I rearranged and adjusted many combinations of arrows, bars, dots, and planets. I was trying to keep the idea of analytical progress because that is a large portion of what advertising + marketing focuses on, learning about the audience and targeting them more directly. I want the logo to be a symbolic promise of progress to the clients.
Finalists:
They convey the progress of advertising with less of a chance of being mistaken for something else. They also are compact enough to fit comfortably in a circle, if needed.
Update: I sent my finalists to David and he asked for more options like the right logo. So this is what I have.