Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Actually ... quite a few of those logos have changed over the years.

The Apple Logo used to be a rainbow! And before that, something totally unrecognizable. (Heck, they used to be "Apple Computer" and now they are just "Apple".)

This is also why I don`t think small businesses should patent their logos ... you have to change with the times. The original rainbow apple worked great on an army-green computer. This new silvery thing looks a lot better on their white machines and white packaging materials.

I think I know what AT&Ts logo is .... I couldn`t tell you what the HP logo is.

But all 3 of those companies built brands that had nothing to do with their logo, IMO. Your identity is a sum of all your parts, not the result of something that small. (This is probably why I don`t believe in $700-2K a logo unless it can get up and sell products for you.)

I think most people can remember a word rather than a logo. Do you know what the logo is for P&G? Kleenex? Clorox? Sony? Discovery? Fisher-Price? (I have no idea either.) The logo gives you the mental picture of what it is, the same way an add with a big-screen TV that says SONY on it would make you remember SONY sells TVs. But I`m not sure that anyone actually remembers that there are 3 arrows in the NHG Consulting logo.

Sony`s logo, like many that you just mentioned, are simply the typeface in
which they display the company name. There is not a separate graphic
image that says Sony. They have given logos to some of their product
lines or technologies though, i.e. the bubbly W for the current Walkman
line. It is probably true that most people remember a word over a logo
but in no way does that diminish the strength of visual identification.

Maybe it is because I am an artist but I certainly am quite aware of logos.
I can pull up Sony, Kleenex, Discovery and Fisher-Price in my head.
However I would think that maybe a lot of people wouldn`t know. But this
list of example companies is simply chosen to illustrate your point. What
if you had asked it this way. Do you know the logo for McDonald`s,
Apple, Target, Coca-Cola, Volkswagon, Shell? Of course most people do!
And you are right, a lot of them do change over the years.

Anyway, the reason why I chose the StudentSuds logo that I did was
because of it`s ease of versatility over the others. Nikole`s list of criteria
about logo applications is a great "litmus test" for the images. I believe
the one I chose fits those best, or is at least more easily adaptable to such
situations.

I like the bonojerry #1 round one. It`d fit nicely onto an embroidered emblem, used for uniforms. It`s work as a small sticker, not too obvious. I think the shape and color work as much as the actual text. Even from a distance, it`d be recognizable.

Being only 8 months removed from being a student and college life, I really like floppy`s design. It`s very clean and to me that`s the most important part. The logo is crisp, simple, and clean like the experience I anticipate coming to this place. I read your comment about "suds" but I personally wouldn`t illustrate that. Suds as a word is innovative. Illustrating it, puts me in carwash mindset, not laundry and dry cleaning services.

Thank you for the site. I am looking for a logo myself. Good Luck.

As a professional graphic designer, I agree 100% with Steve`s points.

You are right that the market is saturated with graphic and web
designers, but the majority of them are not professionals. If you`re
concerned that you won`t get someone who is qualified to do the job,
then you didn`t do your homework. (The first clue that you`re not getting
a professional is when they`re willing to do spec work for the chance to
possibly be paid $225.)

What you`re getting when you purchase a logo this way is merely window
dressing. If you want strategic design — design that will give you a
competitve edge in your market — you need to hire a professional.

Let me ask you this: Did any of these designers ask you for any
information about your business other than what you provided? Because
they should have.

Lisa

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Thanks for sharing the website.  This is similar to Threadless.com except Threadless is for t-shirts and lets the community vote to determine the most popular.

Re: your question, as a small business owner myself, I like:

http://www.sitepoint.com/marketplace/contestentrant/1407/156 220#entry74443

This is the one that immediately jumped out and grabbed my attention.  Good luck!


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Brion Lau
Executive Publisher
http://www.financialfitnesspro.com

Hi. This is bonojerry from nyc and sitepoint. I have a lot of experience in
graphic design and illustration and my true passion is logo design. I am
very knowledgeable about branding, printing, etc. and the reason I play in
the pitifully meager sitepoint "games" is the opportunity to design
hundreds of logos. Logo designs that are not selected either go into my
portfolio or sometimes I repurpose them, with modifications. My goal is
to be one of the best logo designers in the world, which is totally
reachable because when it comes to logo design/poster design I have
unlmited energy and passion.

There are many negatives about sitepoint, I agree, but I refuse to not do
spec work because, as every designer knows, you don`t do spec work.
Well the design world and every other part of every world is in rapid
transformation and change. I think that now that I have identified my
passion my best strategy is to follow it.

Of course any logo design you get from a contest where you are only
willing to pay 100, 200, etc. dollars is not going to be as great, in
general, as something you are going to get from pentagram.com or
miltonglaser.com, it is a question of time, time to research, time to
collaborate, time to develop, time to revise, time to consider......

I am trying not do develop a design empire; i am trying not to have to do
website design although I would art direct. I am trying to figure out how
to simply limit myself to the actual designing of logotypes and posters
and let somebody hire another firm for everything else.

I am really really good at what I do, and I can say that because I have
done hundreds of logodesigns, i have seen myself grow, I don`t think that
the coolest logo is the best logo for a business.

I go for authentice, i try for simple, and I always put myself in the
business person`s position but am happy to drop them in put their
customers and clients first in my considerations.

Sitepoint has a lot of people looking for logotypes with no understanding
of its usefulness to them. They will learn over time. The prices that they
are paying will give them more or less value.

I don`t think people holding logo contests should just limit themselves to
the design brief and the description. There is a whole area at the bottom
of the contest page for dialogue. Encourage it, get a discussion of your
business and your perceived needs.

HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT:
The greatest logo designer needs more money than you think, because
weakness in the logo design come from weakness in the committed
vision of the company. It is the designers job to get the company to
articulate the vision, to listen carefully for elements of that vision that
conflict with each other, to point those elements out and to reach a
consensus of vision that the company can commit to. The logo is created
for that committed vision.

bonojerry

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Some work available at http://www.bonojerry.com Products available at http://www.zazzle.com/bonojerry*

Bonojerry...

First, welcome.  Second, I was the one who first slandered Sitepoint on this thread and it is certainly interesting to hear things from your point of view.  I still do not understand why you don`t see Sitepoint as spec work.  Regardless, I admire your integrity of design principles.

I am a poster designer but I`ve also begun doing more logos lately.  I also do not do any kind of work I do not want to do, like web design, brochures, etc.  No thanks!  It comes down to marketing yourself as a designer within your specific niche.  It is also important to have the strength to turn down the jobs that don`t fit within your specialty, which for you is primarily logos.

In my opinion, you shouldn`t have to go looking for "the opportunity to design hundreds of logos" from a place like Sitepoint.  How many hundreds of logos will you create that do not get used or that you don`t get paid for?  Wouldn`t you rather have commitment over opportunity?

Hi Campsteve...

Yeah it is totally spec work...i don`t only do the sitepoint thing, but there is something that is satisfying in the exercise of the sitepoint contests and I have discovered ways so tha the work is not wasted.

Commitment over opportunity?

Not sure what you mean.

Jerry


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Some work available at http://www.bonojerry.com Products available at http://www.zazzle.com/bonojerry*

Steve - this brings up an interesting point -

When you are an artist and you have to send off your stuff to someone else for the other parts, or you accept graphics from another artist to do your thing, how does that work? How do you keep something uniform in terms of look and feel if the same person isn`t doing the print and the web?