Schadenfreude is a great German word, used to describe the taking a devlish pleasure in the trouble of others and/or general chaos. The following post would certainly qualify. Back in October of ast year, Wired Magazine magazine staged a logo contest of sorts – they selected several online logo companies and the local Kinko’s to create logos for a fictional company. Wired then graded the various services based on concept, service and price, awarding scores ranging from D+ to B+. The resultant feature was published in their magazine (below) and posted as an online version here.
Before I get hammered about it, let’s get this out of the way. Am I jealous? Damn straight – green with envy. Very nice plug for all concerned (except, perhaps, for the dudes awarded a D). Kudos. But that’s not where the schadenfreude kicks in. One of the outfits involved, Logo Loft (awarded a B) proudly presents the Wired article on their website. Can’t blame them. Funny thing though, the logo that they provided to Wired bears a remarkable resemblance to another logo, featured on another company’s web site. Logo Bee, 
a successful Montreal based firm (not involved with the Wired feature) proudly display a very similar logo on their website and attribute the design to an entirely different company – Opals Chemical Technology. And when we say similar, we mean simliar. We’re talkin’ doppelganger (another nifty German word). Now, I’m not sayin’. I’m just sayin’. Could be all a happy coincidence. This post is simply, as Rod Sterling would say during every Twilight Zone episode – “submitted for your approval”.
Or maybe just a bit of Schaden, meet Freude. Freude, meet Schaden.
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