Leggo My Logo
Posted by Jaci Russo
There has been an uproar in the advertising industry lately over Goodby, Silverstein's new logo. As Adweek reported, the logo isn't that new, it's a 100 year old mark that they 'appropriated'. When it was first introduced, graphic designers and agency insiders took to blogs and Twitter to accuse them of 'ripping off' someone else's mark. In the article, Rich Silverstein explains that he wanted to take a classic ligature and pay homage.
"Our new logo is old. I've heard that people have been questioning our new logo. Allow me to explain. I've always loved timeless, beautiful things. So it's not a coincidence that the logo looks like a 100 year old ligature. It was 100% intentional. I found it in my library in a book of ligatures that I've had for 30 years and always admired. I thought it would be nice to take something old and ignored and reimagine it. And that's what I did." read more
Whether you agree with that strategy or not, it is obvious that Goodby Silverstein intentionally and knowingly paid homage to S & Co and used their logo.
LogoGarden, however, is not paying 'homage' to the hundreds of agencies whose marks they have taken and are reselling to unknowing businesses. In a recent article, “The Perils of Do-It-Yourself Logo Makers”, Steve Douglas exposes this DIY logo site's biggest drawback, these logos are stolen.
"Billed as the ‘fastest growing logo site in the world’ Logo Garden is yet another in a line of Flash-driven do-it-yourself logo generators that promise for a few bucks ($69.00 to be exact) would-be entrepreneurs can avail themselves of do-it-yourself logos without employing the skills of, oh I dunno, a pesky graphic designer" read more
In the world of entrepreneurial business, there are a few universal laws that always seem to hold true.
- You get what you pay for.
- Anything that seems too good to be true usually is.
- Cutting corners almost always comes back to bite you.
Violating all three of these universal business laws is the newest trend in logo creation, do-it-yourself logo generating websites.
DIY logo generating websites seem like a dream come true for entrepreneurs looking for a quick and inexpensive way to create a professional logo. You don’t need fancy digital graphics software, you don’t have to take any classes to learn how to use said fancy software, and you don’t have to hire any graphic designers. Websites like LogoGarden.com make it incredibly easy. In fact, they make it a little too easy.
Many of the graphics and designs available to chose from in the site’s database are “borrowed” from other copyrighted logos. Further more, the site explains in their Terms of Service fine print,
“LogoGarden has no obligation or duty to perform copyright, trademark or service mark searches to validate the symbol database is not infringing on any trademark, copyright, or services marks”.
Therefore, when the angry giant corporation comes along and slaps you with a lawsuit for unwittingly using their copyrighted logo, LogoGarden is not liable for anything.
Making matters worse, the fine print in the agreement is so air tight that after you discover you have been ripped off, you have no rights to a refund.
In the end, all you are left with are 5000 business cards with your illegal logo that you can’t use, a lawsuit from a corporation that doesn’t care you didn't know the logo was legally theirs.
Anything that seems to good to be true usually is, and when it comes to something as important to your business as your logo, you shouldn’t be cutting corners anyway. Hire a professional that knows what they are doing. In the long run, you will find it will be well worth any money you saved by using a logo/lawsuit generator anyway.
To learn more about brand identities and the role they play in the success of your business, download the Brand Identity ebook.
