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Looking for logo ideas

DezUk

DezUk

DezUk

Associate
Joined
20 Sep 2003
Posts
2,393
Location
Scotland
I have been asked at work to come up with a logo idea for a new product that is being launched. The product name is "Candidate Tracker" which I know isn't the best combination of words to design a logo around.

I had a couple of ideas for this:

1. Have a stick man figure to represent the "A" in candidate and have some sort of target on him

2. Have the stick man then in a circle around about him have the words "Candidate Tracker" so it forms a circle then make a target in the middle

I thought I would post up on here though to see if people have any better ideas?


Cheers
 
do you have a budget to do this, or do you have to do it yourself ?

99 designs is a great site for this kind of thing

you set a fee for the winner and lots of people submit their designs according to your brief..
 
DezUk said:
2. Have the stick man then in a circle around about him have the words "Candidate Tracker" so it forms a circle then make a target in the middle
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I can tell you that this is a bad idea. You want the text at the forefront and it should be easy to read. Having the text in a circle would make it a lot more difficult to read.
 
Paul11 said:
do you have a budget to do this, or do you have to do it yourself ?

99 designs is a great site for this kind of thing

you set a fee for the winner and lots of people submit their designs according to your brief..
Click to expand...


go there and you WILL end up with something ****.
 
tsinc80697 said:
go there and you WILL end up with something ****.
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What gives you that idea? Yes there are a few dimwits on that site who provide crap, but there are a hell of a lot of great designers too.

Spend some time and look at a few of the portfolios there. Lucy Mango, Ulahts, to name but a few.
 
I refuse to even visit those types of sites as there are millions of designers by thousands of designers that are all crap. I've spoken out about these type of websites before on here and on other places online, and it's not just me that has a hatred towards them.

I couldn't care less if there is a good designer on there, what they are doing is belittling the industry and niche market that was once around and is now full of people who think they can design.
 
I can agree fully with your comments about what it's doing to the market, and agree that there are a lot of muppets who think they can design, but that's no reason to simply write it off as being a poor place to visit.

If someone doesn't have the budget for a large design studio, then where's the harm in using one of these services? The way I see it they get a decent logo at a price that they can afford.
 
Diggsy said:
I can agree fully with your comments about what it's doing to the market, and agree that there are a lot of muppets who think they can design, but that's no reason to simply write it off as being a poor place to visit.

If someone doesn't have the budget for a large design studio, then where's the harm in using one of these services? The way I see it they get a decent logo at a price that they can afford.
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The harm for these people, particularly for logos, is that they could approve and pay for a 'design' that utilises part- or whole-images for which they don't hold copyright or permission.

So the proud new logo owner skips away thinking they've got a bargain, plops it on their shopfront, their stationery and their website at extra expense, and is then informed by the copyright owner that they can't use it.

It's not that uncommon.

If you're genuinely interested in why these crowdsourcing sites are a lose-lose situation for most designers and 'clients', follow some of the links here:

http://twitter.com/SpecWatch
 
At the end of the day, no self respecting designer is going to produce a top class logo for $100.

Its a specialised market where you get what you pay for. If you want to get a logo that isn't original, could contain stock imagery and looks average, and therefore your business looks average, then yeah you could go for one of these.

Would you go to a mechanics or a dentists and get your car fixed/teeth sorted by someone charging 10% of what a good reputable place is charging? If you want cheap/nasty then spend little. Theres nothing bad about looking round for the best price, but getting a shoddy knockoff to save you some cash now and make yourself/business look below par isn't going to be worth it.
 
simisker said:
The harm for these people, particularly for logos, is that they could approve and pay for a 'design' that utilises part- or whole-images for which they don't hold copyright or permission.

So the proud new logo owner skips away thinking they've got a bargain, plops it on their shopfront, their stationery and their website at extra expense, and is then informed by the copyright owner that they can't use it.

It's not that uncommon.

If you're genuinely interested in why these crowdsourcing sites are a lose-lose situation for most designers and 'clients', follow some of the links here:

http://twitter.com/SpecWatch
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Thanks for that link. Pretty interesting stuff.

I do agree that there is a possibilty of images being used from other designs, or designs being 'inspired' heavily by copyrighted designs. I guess the only way to avoid this is A. go to a proper design studio, who I assume will carry out copyright checks? Or B. carry out your own copyright checks, which I would guess is nigh on impossible/too expensive for anyone outside the industry?

Are you in the design business yourself? Not that it matters, I am just curious.
 
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simisker said:
Yup.

Well, kinda.

I left an in-house design job last week.

Anybody need some HTML emails designing? :D
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:D

Kind of explains why you dislike those online services so much.

I wonder if there is any way for an online service of a similar nature to be able to guarantee the copyright status and strictly control the quality of designers signing up? Maybe by looking into portfolios etc before allowing them to sign up? Maybe then set up in a similar contest manner, only with less (but better quality) designers, and better pricing structures?

There is definately a market for these crowdsourcing sites, and they're not likely to go away anytime soon, so I wonder is there a place for a properly organised one?

Do you think it's viable?
 
It's a well-intentioned question, Diggsy, but my overriding concern, as a professional designer with years of experience, would remain irrespective of how such a site would be organised: namely, that such a service would be asking people to work; to dedicate their experience, time, skill and talent for the chance to be paid.

In other specialist fields, the mere thought of applying such effort with no guarantee of remuneration would be scoffed at, and yet it appears to be something that designers should have to consider the norm.

The biggest problem with this? Most designers agree with this thought. Or to be more specific, most people who think they are designers agree with this. Youngsters coming into this profession are so insecure in their abilities that they throw rationale out of the window and spend possibly significant energy in what is tantamount to a contest where the judges are not suitably qualified.

"I like the look of that" is very different to "this is something that would work as suitable branding in all the circumstances demanded of a logo", after all.

Professional designers are aware of this, and nowadays they're increasingly aware of the worth of their skills. Which is why you don't see them entering into crowdsourcing, and entering into spec-work [working for a chance to get a contract] with greater reluctance than in pre-internet days.

Let me ask what I hope is a rhetorical question, if I may: would you work the hours you do, with the skills you have, to do whatever it is you do, not for a guaranteed salary, but for a chance at that salary?

Anyway, we're dragging this very OT. Apologies, Dez - you know how these things tend to go :D
 
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I can see entirely where you are coming from simisker, and I agree, I wouldn't work full time for nothing.

What I do see though is a lot of 'hobbyist' 'designers' using these sites for beer tokens, hence the importance of getting paid is a moot point.

Unfortunately I don't think that will never stop, but hopefully there is enough 'proper' work to go around the real professionals out there. :)

And as above, yep apologies to the OP.
 
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