It’s being some time now that I have the final logos for MagnaCRM and Rapid Signal. I had the chance to show them to quite a few people since then and here is the verdict:
Most people like the MagnaCRM logo. Although it was pointed out to me that swooshes are much overused, the fact remains that most people find it professional and matching for business software (CRM software in my case). On top of that I like it a lot ;-) In any case, if you are of a different opinion, now is the time to speak up. Please don’t be afraid you’ll hurt my feelings or anything!
The story is different with the Rapid Signal logo. Most people find the logo bad, with explanations ranging from “too cluttered” to “ugly unidentifiable collection of pixels”. More over, through a comment on this blog, I was informed of suspicious actions from LogoWorks (selling logos stolen from other designers). You can read more on these posts by thepreparedmind.com: Post I, II, III. So I have to admit that my decision to go with LogoWorks was wrong.
Now, based on the reactions and my personal dislike of the logo, I decided to just drop it and go with another designer. This time I will go with a single design firm. I don’t really believe single designers are guaranteed to offer better results than services like DesignOutpost, Guru.com or even LogoWorks, but I want to see the difference in the experience.
The only upside to the whole story, is that now it’s easy to replace the RS logo. It would be harder to decide something like that in a year or so.
Dimitris,
I like your MagnaCRM logo.
I agree with the comments that your company logo is cluttered. I also believe that the differing color schemes between your logos is confusing to your overall company impression. I would try to pick a more complimentary color scheme for your new company logo that helps enhance or match your MagnaCRM logo.
Good Luck!
Comment by Jon Trainer — August 20, 2005 @ 16:30
I commend you for your integrity.
Comment by morealyera — August 20, 2005 @ 21:17
As a graphic designer, I find the fact that you came out and said you were wrong for using Logoworks, very commendable. There is some truly disturbing news surfacing about this company and their terribly unethical practices. Good luck on your quest for a better design with a better designer. I am sure your experience with a single design firm will be just as rewarding and you will feel better about the ethical nature of your doing business.
Comment by Jake — August 20, 2005 @ 21:24
{pat on the back}
I am also going to commend you for rethinking this decision. Designers are very aware now of this problem and will be watching them carefully for stolen designs.
I don’t believe all of their designs are stolen, but there are enough examples now of clear violations that go beyond an “inspired by” explaination that I would be very leary of using any of their logos.
I know there are ethical designers in all price ranges that can be found to suit your needs.
Comment by Viki Anderson — August 20, 2005 @ 21:43
Thanks for the update and commentary on the situation. It took a lot of fortitude to come out and publicly talk about this. You’re right, that now is the time to make the decision, before time passes and things get more difficult. :-)
Here’s my perspective as a designer on the RapidSignal logo:
1. There seems to be an over-abundant use of dots in the logo. I think for the logomark itself the dots used are reasonable, however the dots for both “i” characters seems to dilute the effect. However, one issue with the dot look is, it doesn’t correspond to the curves you have in place on the MagnaCRM logo. This leads into point 2…
2. There seems to be a pretty significant overall difference in appearance compared to the MagnaCRM logo. This includes color, which seems more yellow-orange than the MagnaCRM orange, and I am unsure of the use of gray and black is consistent. The font face and initial caps differences (MagnaCRM is all lower cased) also make the two feel much different. Finally, the RapidSignal font used is a variant of Helvetica/Arial (medium expanded) while the MagnaCRM logo is much more of a squared font. I think a consistent use of font face here would help greatly.
I think the integration and consistency of the two logos are important, as this shows broader thought about your overall identity, and can work to maintain the idea of both RapidSignal and MagnaCRM whenever either mark is being viewed — they support each other in their brand consistency.
Hopefully my commentary is helpful on the road toward your final logomark. :-)
As for LogoWorks, It’s unfortunate that LogoWorks seems to be having problems with unethical work being done by some of its designers. I suppose at $40 per logo, a designer has to either work very fast, work very cheap or find other ways to get logos out for minimal time investment.
When you factor in that $40 is only guaranteed if you get the project, LogoWorks has a pretty good thing going. They charge many times what they pay a designer for a chosen logo, and nothing to those who don’t win (I believe that’s the model as I understood it, though I could be wrong here).
Hopefully the shaking out here and on the other fine blogs mentioned will help clean up the situation.
Comment by Mike Rohde — August 20, 2005 @ 23:16
[...] And it is working, check out a recent client of LogoWorks and his 2nd thoughts. [...]
Pingback by Panda Pause.com » Blog Archive » Design Thieves vs Posse — August 21, 2005 @ 00:09
Dimitris, I’m glad we could show you the light. 1 down… 5 billion to go.
Ex
Comment by Ex — August 21, 2005 @ 00:13
Thanks for all for the kind comments and useful information!
I don’t understnand why LogoWorks pay $40 or so to their designers, since they charge $300 - $600 (new prices) for a single logo. I guess it leaves a better margin for profit :)
Jon, Mike et al. I initially thought that different logos would be a good thing. I understand I may be wrong again, so I will try to research this a bit more before going forth with a new design.
Comment by Dimitris Giannitsaros — August 21, 2005 @ 12:57
Dmitris,
I was wrong on LogoWorks’ scheme, they pay (I believe) $25 for submission of a concept for a client, and then an additional amount ($50-70) if you win the project, which varies upon your level of rating within their system (based on project wins and votes by fellow designers). So, it’s not exactly “spec” but it’s getting close.
Interesting interview by Von Glitska, a designer, with an anonymous designer who works for LogoWorks:
http://www.howdesign.com/forum/messages.asp?topicID=302464
Comment by Mike Rohde — August 21, 2005 @ 16:58
Ok, discovered a bit clearer payscale that LogoWorks/Arteis from that same HOW magazine forum:
http://www.arteis.net/designer/how-it-works.html
It’s a bit more complex than I thought, but looks like the max amount if a designer is highly rated and the client happens to choose 2 revisions, is $200.
Comment by Mike Rohde — August 21, 2005 @ 17:05
Thanks Mike… Again the amount is too low in my opinion. At least in places like DesignOutpost all money go to the designer (you pay separately for the service)
Comment by Dimitris Giannitsaros — August 21, 2005 @ 17:24