Well, we almost did it. Changed our logo that is. While we often preach that changing your established logo can be a risky proposition, and one not to be taken lightly, we came pretty close to changing our ‘house’ logo (used since 1995) to a more modern, sleeker, factory. When we commissioned 3D artists to develop a virtual house, one of the original proposals (inset – above right) was that we change the TLF house to a more realistic ‘factory’. Pretty nifty concepts to be sure. We even tossed it around – before deciding that 
our logo was a very established part of our ‘brand’ and that by changing it to a more realistic version we were committing a cardinal sin – becoming just like everybody else. The realistic approach was tossed, and a 3D version was mocked up that was closer to the original design – goofy perspective and all (for more on how on the back story and logo design process that resulted in our TLF ‘house’ see the about us section on our main site). While the animated version of this 3D house requires a rather hefty download time (and as such is practical for video/CD/DVD presentations) we’ve also developed a ‘Flash Friendly’ 3D logo design that’s much less of a bandwidth hog. While 3D logos are nifty and all, you have to ask yourself if the expense is worth it. In terms of visual eye-candy, 3D logos are great (and we’ve grown accustomed to them in movies.
If you’re looking to plaster your logo onto desktops, or are looking for a more ‘snazzy’ version to beef up a presentation folder or brochure, 3D may certainly be the way to go. In other applications – basic stationery (and other office knick-knacks like fax cover sheets, checks, etc.) 3D is probably not appropriate as the limited resolution will not permit the detail required.
In terms of Flash animations keep in mind that because it is a frame-by-frame 3D animation (as opposed to object ‘tweening’) the file sizes (and resultant download times) are significantly larger. As it is, you may have to make some design sacrifices dues to the limitations of the medium. For more on animation and how it applies to logos see our Flash logo animation section.
Related: Battle of the logos
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