I’m sure many people will say that one, if not the most, important element of your business brand is your logo. I don’t completely agree with this (thats a topic for another post) but a logo is definitely a very important part of building your brand.
That is why getting a new logo created for ProfessionalGFX was one of the first things I wanted to do. Now, ProfessionalGFX is a web development business also offering many graphic related services. But, I did not create my own logo. Mainly because I was tapped for ideas and wanted a fresh set of eyes (or in this case many sets) on the business and concept. So, I looked to outside sources.
My first thought was to hire a logo designer but I didn’t want to be strapped to using just one person and a limited number of revisions. So, the next obvious option in outsourcing design work is to hold a contest, which is one of my favorite things to do. Outsourcing design work when possible is such a time savor that you can not deny giving it a shot.
Yet, there are a lot of design competition websites out there. You’ve got 99designs, CrowdSpring, and many more smaller ones. 99designs is definitely the most popular one out there, but can be a bit expensive depending on the value of your competition. Through Twitter I found CrowdSpring and decided to give them a shot.
I laid out what I was looking for in a logo, what it was going to be used for (business cards, letterhead, etc) and also laid out some of my specifications. With that, it was up to the designs to come up with ideas and I provided the critique. There were over 70 entries in the contest which included unique designs and revisions.
In the end I decided on the logo below.
I wanted to keep the swoosh type look that was in my previous logo but wanted to switch the color up and wound up with a nice green (reminds me of money!). I also like the incorporation of the swoosh in the GFX lettering.
Up next in this series about rebranding a web development business, I’ll quickly discuss some business card design tips and reasons for having a business card.
Hey, thanks for the mention Chris – glad your project turned out well!
Great new logo, Chris! Pete, great job making it. I like the smooth transition and sleek typeface. Nice new branding.