Logogate 2011

Reading stories such as Logogate 2011 disappoint me so much. A quick rundown for those who don’t want to read the article: what started as a “another cheap conveyor belt logo service” at LogoGarden.com turned into a discovery of an abundance of stolen logos from many renowned designers across the world, “slightly edited” into templates which any person could purchase to use as an icon in their own logo.

While I feel that such “fast food logo services” aren’t good for businesses to be utilising in the first place, plagiarism within the design industry is more of a concern. I believe a good brand – including a meaningful logo – comes from research, concept development and refinement. It doesn’t come from choosing a template and plopping a business name underneath it.

The most frustrating part is that there are potential customers of these services who may have no idea that their chosen logo is already used by another company (and possibly trademarked). They could be completely and innocently unknowing, until down the track they then see their logo used by another company. Now that’s an awkward situation if there ever was one.

Thankfully, a number of the designers who had their work stolen have had the offending logos removed from LogoGarden, but it’s not to say others haven’t been notified yet. Here’s hoping these types of services eventually fall off the radar – they’re doing nothing for the integrity or creativity in branding.