The following post has been sponsored by the owners of LogoMyWay.com:
When it comes to corporate branding there’s nothing more powerful than a company’s logo. It is often the first image that the consumer sees and it should firmly represent the very essence of the enterprise as quickly and as forcibly as possible. As we all know, first impressions are everything. This most certainly applies in the business world and as consumers are bombarded on an almost constant basis with images and messages of all kinds, your company logo must really stand out.
Even in such times of recession, or maybe even as a consequence of the downturn, business startups are booming. As hundreds of thousands of people find themselves without work, many are turning to the world of the self-employed and one of their first tasks is to dream up a commercial identity portraying their message to potential clients.
Traditionally, if you wanted to design a logo you had a couple of options. If you had something of an artistic eye you could spend many hours designing your own. You could also take advantage of the many freelance websites out there, such as Scriptlance or Odesk, posting an ad for somebody to create your logo for you. Thirdly, if you had some budget to play with, you could turn to a professional graphic designer, although this would normally be the most expensive option.
Enter Logomyway, a fresh new approach promoted by Irishman Joe Daley. Launched in April 2009, the Dublin-based web platform will post a competition for you to its more than 400 freelance designers. The designers, who hail from as far afield as Hong Kong or Bulgaria, will come up with a logo for you depending on your particular brief.
Harnessing once again the power of the Internet, you may receive hundreds of entries for this competition. As the entries are received they are displayed on logomyway.com in order of the hottest prospects. Competition is open for two weeks before closing and a winner and runner-up declared by the promoting company.
The winning artist receives a prize, dictated by the company looking for the logo, and this typically ranges between $200 and $1,000. This prize money is paid upfront and Logomyway retains 10% for their services. The designer submits his work knowing that the fee will be paid to the winner via an online payment processor upon conclusion.
Joe Daley has been making a living from web promotions since 1998 and has numerous novelty sites promoting greeting cards and customized Google pages, amongst others. His latest venture has become popular amongst smaller companies, many of them with Internet-based marketing operations, who see the power of the web at work and also do not necessarily value the higher rates traditionally charged by graphic design shops.
Daley uses another web phenomenon, Twitter, to keep in touch with his designers and “tweets” every new competition, so that his virtual freelance workforce can get busy. Each artist can submit more than one interpretation and those who are successful are branded as such on the website.
As a company’s logo can be its “shining star” representing the very soul of the business it is little wonder that this concept been successful. Would-be graphic designers out there can get a jump start on their fledgling career aspirations and companies can receive hundreds of visual interpretations to mull over. The cream rises to the top through competition and the company executive can feel that he has really tested the waters, cost-effectively.
Adam Toren
They seem to have very good designers.
This is an OK concept for surface design but this really speaks to the issues that design companies have in terms of branding and design with very little knowledge of the company that they are doing the work for. Great branding starts with in an depth look at the business and what their brand message is. I don’t see how this approach is actually doing that. It seems like business as usual for designers, design for design sake, with businesses not being any wiser for it.
Well said Brandon. A cheap logo isn’t going to inspire trust in your customer.
Wow, this is such an interesting concept – I’d be interested to know whether those who have used this service think that it is a better solution to the more mainstream approach of hiring a designer. I agree with Brandon too – successful marketing requires in-depth and effective branding. This requires using multiple approaches to foster trust and confidence in your brand. I’ve been working with a great print company (http://www.digitallizard.com/small-medium-business.php) that has really helped with branding as they provide an online print store, but that is customized by me to protect brand integrity, which is so important.
Guys, look at the deeper intestines of the Logo Contest nowadays. Logo contest and Logo Design agencies are all merely like a Siamese twin. Designer’s on both entities are all practically the same in terms of passion, creativity and ingenuity. You only deal directly with your logo creative director and your instructions are just passed unto the hired graphic designers while in Logo Contest, you yourself is being trained to be the creative director of your own Logo. That’s where the fun begins! You have the actual hands-on for your own Identity. Now for 200$ in a Logo Design Agency, how much concepts and revisions you will get? 4 or maybe even less and plus the limited revisions involved? Logo Contest is a real deal!
Branding is not a matter of price. It’s a matter of how much the owner is involved in the making. You already have your brand knowledge just pass it on to have it illustrated.
Follow this link http://www.designerslodge.com/category/logo-designs/ to see some popular logos that was made from established design agencies that are merely a stereotype one.