Businesses are starting to jump on the latest trend in logo design: the Logo Design Contest. Hosted by a third party, these contests offer a cash prize for the best logo submission. Designers follow a set of guidelines laid out by the business, get as creative as they can and compete to have their logo chosen.

Financially, a logo design contest can appear as the best choice. Professional designers can charge upwards of $3,000 or more, while a design contest may cost less than $500. The allure of having multiple designers work towards your new logo also plays into the desire to host a contest. Why work with just one person, when you can have the creative talents of 100 or more designers?

On the surface, a logo design contest is appealing. However, the long term cost to your business can be crippling.

Here is why you should never use a contest for your logo design:

Design Contestants are inexperienced.
A quality designer with a proven record of successful logo campaigns rarely, if ever, participates in a logo design contest. Most contestants have little to no design experience or are still students. They see a design contest as a way to pad their portfolio, land a bigger client and get their name out as a designer. The quality of your logo will reflect the amount of your prize.

Design Contestants don’t know your business.
A good logo requires knowledge of your business in order correctly represent you. A professional designer requires clients to complete a comprehensive questionnaire covering everything from your business name, perception in the marketplace, core values, products or services provided, competitors and what sets you apart, mission, the perception you want clients to have after seeing your logo and more. This research helps your designer craft a logo that fits your business.

A design contest, however, does not accommodate that level of research. Instead, contestants go for the “wow” factor – designing something that might make you go “wow,” but more often than not, doesn’t fit your business.

Contest logos need work.
Due to the inexperience of design contestants, the winning logo usually requires some touch-up work. Just ask JC Penney. They hosted a design contest for their new logo. While the winning design gave the launching point for their new logo, the department store made some improvements to bring their new logo in compliance with their brand.

Contest logos don’t factor in usage.
How and where your logo will be used is a major factor in the design. Will your logo be placed over images? Used on the web or in social media? Will it be blown up to use on a poster or banner? These questions and more impact the design, something that contests don’t take into consideration. Contestants want to wow you, not explain how multiple gradients will muddy up your logo in various applications.

Contests might appear to be an intelligent choice when starting a logo design project; however, in the long run, they cost you time, money and may misrepresent your brand – the affects of which are immeasurable and can be devastating to your business.

You may pay more, but a professional graphic designer who researches your company, builds a relationship with you and your business and desires the success of your business more than a cash prize will provide benefits that highly outweigh the cost.

Design is a skill and an art form. It requires a lot of knowledge, not only about what makes a great design, but also about producing the design itself.

You can see more confessions on Anneke’s blog.

Ron Johnson, Apple’s amazing retail strategist for the past decade and the new J.C. Penney CEO, is bringing that change, including a new brand that is in the process of being rolled out. New logo. New tag line. New mission and vision and customer relations strategy are combining together to give J.C. Penney a fresh start.

What do you think of J.C. Penney’s new brand and mission?

When it comes to good design, being proactive is key.

Too often, businesses will wait until a project deadline approaches to begin thinking about their message, or even contact a graphic designer. While a business may have luck in finding someone to pump out a quick design, it typically comes at a financial and quality cost. Most graphic designers charge a rush fee for last minute projects, if they agree to take on the project at all. There will be less time for revisions and creativity, making the final project less than top-quality. It even puts stress on the printing company to turn a project around quickly and doesn’t allow for mistakes.

Consider these tips to being proactive with your graphic needs:

• Map out your upcoming needs for the next few months;
• Determine when you need the finished product;
• If you are coordinating the project printing, figure out how soon you need the finished design to the printer to get the product when you need it. That’s the date your graphic designer needs to have the design finished
• Ask your graphic designer what kind of lead time they need on your project (most require at least two weeks to a month);
• Meet with everyone involved to determine the message and purpose of your product, and have it ready to send to your graphic designer in the required lead time.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

When beginning any branding campaign, logo or advertising design project, it is beneficial to consider a few pre-design questions to guide your graphic designer in the creation process. Good design is imperative, but if it does not communicate an effective message about your business or product, even the best looking logo will fall short.

Save your graphic designer time (and save yourself money) by answering the following questions:

• When consumers, clients or customers view your finished design project, what would be the ideal feeling or emotion you would like them to feel?
• What does the finished design project need to say about you or your company?
• Who is the target audience or intended market?
• What are your core values?
• Who are your competitors and how should your finished design project make you stand apart?
• What single phrase appropriately describes your company?
• What similar finished design projects do you like and why?
• What similar finished design projects do you dislike and why?

The answers to the above questions will give your hired graphic designer direction for your project, force you to think through what your finished design project needs to communicate, and guarantee that you and your graphic designer are on the same page as to your finished design.

Thank you to my clients, blog readers and those who recommended my work to family and friends. It is a blessing to have you in my life.

Merry Christmas!

The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan recently launched such a campaign. Talk to Your Kids About Art School depicts scenes typically associated with warning parents about teen drug and alcohol use and apply it to art. The ads are creative, grab your attention, and share “warning signs” that your child might have a future in art.

The Talk To Your Kids About Art School campaign not only pulls from a campaign we all are familiar with, it also adds a unique twist. Upon first look, the campaign evokes a negative reaction: approaching difficult subjects like drug and alcohol use with your child. However, it brings a positive twist in challenging parents to look for the “warning signs” that their child might be naturally artistic, and challenges them to foster that gift in their child.

When developing your next advertising campaign, consider a creative approach. This particular approach works well for the College for Creative Studies, but might not work well for your business. Think outside the box. Play around with well known images, phrases or themes. Consider hiring a Branding and Design specialist.

A creative advertising campaign can help raise awareness, pull in clients you never would have reached before, and may just land your business all over the social media sphere, seen by people who may never have heard of your business.

Talk to Your Kids About Art School campaign credits: Advertising Agency: Team Detroit, Dearborn, MI USA; Chief Creative Officer: Toby Barlow; Creative Director: Gary Pascoe; Art Director: Vic Quattrin; Copywriter: Joel Wescott; Published: October, 2011.

When it comes to developing your brand, even the smallest of details plays a huge role in making or breaking your image. A misplaced icon, a hard to read web font, an outdated drop shadow, blurry picture and countless other little things can produce a negative effect on the brand you are trying to build.

However, one clever brand enhancement can make all the difference. Just look at Twitter.

Upon the launch of their redesigned user-interface, Twitter users noticed a very small, seemingly unimportant change that worked to solidify the brand in their minds:

The new Home icon.

Designed to look like a small bird house, this new Home icon is a beautiful implementation of the bird image Twitter is known for. It’s a subtle change, one that many Twitter users didn’t notice at first, yet it leaves a subtle hint to the brand, without hitting one upside the head. Not to mention, it is a customization unique to Twitter. When you see a bird house used for the Home icon, Twitter comes to mind.

Small details, such as the Twitter Home icon solidify your brand and subtly bring your brand into the forefront of the minds of your clients. It gives your company a thought-out look, and communicates to your customers that you are intentional in everything you do.

Ask yourself is there is any way to implement your brand in small ways on your:

• Business Cards
• Web site
• Sales Sheets
• Invoices
• Thank You Cards
• Email Marketing
• Signage

If you’re having trouble coming up with ways to shore up your brand, feel free to contact me. I’d be more than happy to help you come up with ways to implement your brand in the smallest of details.

Christmas and New Years are just around the corner, meaning now is the time to begin planning for your holiday design needs. We want to help you impress your clients by offering 20% off our superb design and print packages when you order before December 2!

Our Discounted Services Offered:

• Personalize Christmas Cards for your family or company
• Christmas and New Years Invitations
• Digital PDF Invitations for email attachments
• Event advertisements
• Flyers and brochures for clients or employees
• Banners for events
• Name cards for holiday dinners
• Dinner menus
• Holiday Graphics for your web site

Do you offer any special holiday packages?

We do! Our most popular holiday package is our Christmas Card Design/Print Package:
Order 200 5″x7″ folded Christmas cards with custom design, interior printing and white envelopes for only $190 – and that includes USPS ground shipping to any location within the continental United States.

Need something else?

We are committed to providing each of our clients with unique designs tailored to their brand. Get in touch with us about your design needs or check out the services we offer. We’re happy to help!

Do you print as well?

Of course! We have special rates with many printing companies and can pass those savings onto you, with no management fee.

To find out more, get in touch and let us know how we can help you!