

Starting a company? Forget about the logo. - MrAlmostWrong
http://www.drawar.com/posts/The-Logoless-Brand

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thaumaturgy
I disagree a lot with this (and with the summary of his previous post); my
opinion is coming both from my own experience as well as from some of Guy
Kawasaki's advice.

First, the author trotted out Craigslist and the RIAA as examples of prominent
brands without memorable logos, but I think that it's far easier to come up
with counter-examples: nearly everyone knows the Ford logo, the Pepsi logo,
the Coke "dynamic ribbon device", the Nike "swoosh", and so on. Mega-companies
like AT&T don't spend millions re-inventing their logo every once in a while
for nothing.

As for my experience: I was just some guy who wanted to bootstrap a technology
company by doing local consulting work. How in the hell was I going to stand
out? What was going to be my message? My field is crowded, and I couldn't
price-compete with the neighbor's kid.

The very first thing I did was come up with a name and a logo, and then I
bought a batch of translucent plastic business cards from a company that took
my naive logo design and turned it into something really professional.

Those stupid business cards, with their shiny, fancy red logo, are probably
100% responsible for getting my business off the ground. I've handed out
hundreds -- almost a thousand now -- cards to people, and I can count on one
hand the number of times that someone has put the card in their pocket without
stopping to look at it, and when they stop to look at it, I've made an
impression. All I have to do is not screw up the next 30 seconds, and I might
have a new client.

And that's why your logo is such an important part of your brand: it makes you
memorable. People have a lot on their mind now. They're being bombarded by
names and products all the time. A great logo is your best bet at getting 30
seconds of their attention.

~~~
bradleyland
Yes, but the question is, would your cards have been just as effective had you
only relied on a simple, but professional looking, logotype. The purpose of a
logo is brand recognition. As someone who did the local consultant thing and
built it to a comfortable income, I can say with confidence that the logo had
little or nothing to do with it. I outperformed and outlasted several friends
who jumped in the game at the same time with fancy logos and websites.

~~~
thaumaturgy
> _Yes, but the question is, would your cards have been just as effective had
> you only relied on a simple, but professional looking, logotype._

I doubt it.

> _The purpose of a logo is brand recognition._

That depends very much on the stage of your business, and still runs counter
to the author's point.

> _I outperformed and outlasted several friends who jumped in the game at the
> same time with fancy logos and websites._

"Fancy" doesn't necessarily mean professional or polished, and presentation is
only one aspect of a business. It doesn't guarantee a business's survival, but
it can help you get a head-start.

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tptacek
Logos are names are two things that are really easy to spin your wheels on.
The treacherous thing about them is that they _feel_ like company-building
work, but are in fact nothing but wanking.

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gojomo
_What is the logo for Craigslist? Hell if I know._

The lowercased word 'craigslist' in a serif font, optionally with '.org'.

[http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/epicenter/images/2008/04/3...](http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/epicenter/images/2008/04/30/craigslist.jpg)

