Anyone who’s been following The Factor will know what I think about logo design contests and the related sites that are mushrooming all over the interwebs. What about the other side? Well, one such outfit elogocontest.com (who, ironically, I used as an example of why logo design contests don’t work) want to have a ‘debate’ about the pros and cons of logo contests and have set up a site where both sides of the equation can duke it out. Calling the site specdebate (a reference to ’spec’ or ’speculative’ I guess) folks who are into such things can register and have their say. A little weird in the setup - you can only post once (but can comment on other’s views), have to pick a side when registering, but other than a ‘no profanity’ rule, George Ryan - the owner of the site - promises no ‘censorship’. While I’m kinda non-plussed, figured I’d give George a little link love to get him going. Not going to partake myself - don’t think there’s much point in any debate as neither side will ever convince the other, but some readers might like the idea of being able to give your two cents. If so, have at it here.

Introduce your work to the world. Enter Communication Arts magazine’s 15th Interactive Competition. Judged by the who’s who in interactive media, the jury’s selections will be published in the 2009 Interactive Annual and on the Communication Arts Web site, assuring a prominent place on the industry’s premier stage.

Deadline for entries is December 15, 2008.

Any project—interface design, educational and entertainment programs, interactive product display, self-promotion—created for digital distribution is eligible:

* Web Sites
* Interactive Kiosks
* Handheld Devices
* Online Service
* CD-ROMs

You can enter online here

Two years ago the Montreal Metropolitan Community decided it needed a new logo designed, stating they needed “a branding that will clearly and cohesively present the metropolitan region’s features on the international scene.”

Two years and $487,000 later, one of the designs has made it into the public, to universal panning. The Montreal Gazette was the first to get its hands on the new stylized ‘M’, which it described as a “patchwork of hot pink, tangerine, rhubarb, turquoise and green apple.” When they published the design in the paper, readers comments flooded in, and very few were impressed. In fact, some were downright hostile -

“Do we want to be known as the city of clowns?”; “Total waste of money and garbage logo”; “I thought my neighbour’s cat puked on my paper again this morning.”

President of the design firm that conceived the logo, who calls it “deliberately chubby, very welcoming, like a comfy chair.” Uh-huh. That kind of BS certainly wouldn’t fly with any TLF clients. Probably wouldn’t dig the price tag either.

Full story at The National Post.

I guess you could say my passion is the design of logos. Has been for decades - when I’m not working with a logo, I’m thinking about a logo. If I get bored with designing or working with logos I tend to write about them. A lot. Little featurettes like Some (almost) Golden Rules of Logo Design, a bit that’s been in our library for a few years now. There was even a version of Golden Rules that was syndicated for publication, but it’s different than the one in our library, and publication of that version requires a credit. Well, you can imagine my surprise when my library article turns up on another logo website - some Utah(?) based cats going by the name of Logo Design Xperts - in all its glory. Claiming to be the ‘world’s trusted design service’, this lot failed to notice that the original critiqued our own logo, according to the rules I’d listed, and that I referred to the design in the feature using our company acronym - TLF. As in The. Logo. Factory. An acronym which they have left in the version they published on their website. Not sure how we can shoe horn Logo Design Xperts into TLF, but no mind. Just got off the phone with the nice gentleman who answered their toll-free (also the number for some online ‘University’ where you can - crikey - get a Bachelor, Masters or Doctorate degree in six days for a couple of hundred bucks) and (quell surprise) he had no idea how this would have happened, telling me that he would have to talk to his ‘webmaster’. I’m thinking something along the lines of copy. Paste.

It’s not just the gall of pinching someone’s material without so much as a credit (sometimes it’s almost flattering), it never ceases to amaze me when people claiming to be logo design companies (the ‘world’s trusted design service’ no less) seem to have no idea about copyright, intellectual property rights and other pesky concepts that are supposed to hinder folks from pinching other people’s stuff.

Probably should have added a ‘ no pinchy’ clause to the Golden Rules.

Update: Oh, these cats are too much. A buddy just pointed out that their Secrets of An Efficient Design Process article is a complete knock-off from our Choosing a Graphic Designer piece.

Bad designers. No donut.

Update: Just contacted the fine people and told them to take off the articles.

Apple’s at it again - suing the bejeezus out of somebody for using a similar apple motif to their logo. This time, the target of Apple’s legal beagles is the Vancouver based Victoria School of Business and Technology, which Apple claims is using a design that bears an unacceptable resemblance to the Cupertino-based electronics outfit’s famous logo. The school disagrees -

“Our logo is unique and distinguishable in numerous aspects from the Apple logo including the acronym ‘VSBT’ being part of our logo,” reads a statement by school president Dieter Gerhard. “Are you suggesting that anyone using any variation of an apple for technology education is infringing on Apple’s trademark?”

Well, yes Dieter, that’s pretty much what Apple is claiming, at least according to their lawyer Stephanie Vaccari who says the school’s logo is “infringing Apple’s rights,” while also “falsely suggesting” Apple’s approval over the design. Here’s the kicker - VSBT is a large customer of Apple’s, with a significant segment of its labs hosting Apple products and ‘puters (though I suspect that’ll be changing in the near future).

I do think Apple has a point. The logo is extremely similar to their trademark (especially the leaf bit), and noting the irony, the logo may appear to some that Apple’s endorsing the joint, especially if the campus is laden with Apple computers. Also, there are certain nuances of trademark law that make it your responsibility to go after anyone who copies your goodies, lest it be seen that you’re giving tacit approval to the use. But I might also argue that this is a little on the penny-wise, pound-foolish side. The bad vibe Apple Inc. sends out will far outweigh any damages that, even if we take Apple lawyers at their word, might be caused.

Here’s a funny thing though. I was talking on the phone this afternoon with an old client, and he was telling me that he’d been duking it out with Apple over a logo that he (inserting legal weasel word) alleges the Cupertino outfit ahm, might have ‘borrowed’ from him. He had one word to describe Apple’s trademark legal team - “bastards”.

We’ve used the little Logo Factory icon since around 1996. Kind of a cool background too - it’s not a factory at all, but a graphic representation of the old house in which I launched TLF from my kitchen table. I liked the idea of logos rolling off an assembly line (though, that visual imagery would later haunt me a little as designers reacted to what they percieved as ‘logo mills’ started popping up all over the interwebs). At the time, I had recently separated from my wife, and being a ’solo’ dad, my kids Amy and Matthew, 4 & 5 at the time, were always complaining that I was working too much. To spend as much time with them as I could, I tended to work well into the night, after I had put them to bed (hence the solitary light when all other windows are dark). The ‘house’ became a registered trademark in 2000, and while I’ve been tempted to change it often, my personal attachment to the mark is quite strong.

Cut to this morning, when one of the sharpshooters at the shop - Steve Rodrigues - decided to help out with some graphics and icons for the upcoming relaunch of our Canadian site. While he was working some of his mojo, he figured he’d take a stab at The Logo Factory mark, based on the handling he had used for an earlier project - The Tanning Factory. I had always joked that if I were to start The Logo Factory today, that’s the kind of logo I would develop, exactly like the version he e-mailed this morning (first cut below - never mind the colors). At first I saw the design as an alternative universe TLF - one where everyone sports a goatee. An evil Logo Factory (vague Star Trek reference for those paying attention). I wasn’t actually serious about changing our logo. Now, I’m thinking some more.

I like it. A lot. While I’d have a hard time parting with the purple and teal version that’s served us so well for all these years, I’m not opposed to changing a logo (oh, alright - yes I am). Thoughts anyone? We up for a new look, or does the back story of the original tug at the heart strings? Comments are welcome.