Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

Logo Agony

I’m a designer’s worst nightmare. With a background in graphic design, marketing, and corporate communications, I had particular and robust ideas about what I wanted. Okay, I’ll admit to being a recovering perfectionist as well, and doubtless that contributed to the lengthiness of the process. The actual passage of time was perhaps not unusual, but the many fits and starts and the angst surrounding them are unforgettable.

Entrepreneurs setting out to start a new company, in my opinion, would be wise to set aside a hefty budget for graphic identity. I did not. I wanted world-class design, however, and that is where Logoworks came in. Headquartered in Utah, Logoworks caters to small businesses. It designs logos, business cards, and websites inexpensively by using top-notch designers who never have to actually speak with clients. Instead, all communication takes place via formatted e-mail and account coordinators who do have to speak with clients.

What gave me pause was the distance (Cape Cod is more than a walk to the beach from Utah) and, more important, the consequent lack of day-to-day rubbing of elbows. In the end, I came away thinking the Logoworks formula is actually superior to working with one local designer, who would have had competing priorities. At each step of the way, it is spelled out how the process will work and how long turnaround times will be for each revision round.

The package I purchased from Logoworks included unlimited revision rounds for logo design. And it’s a good thing. Because when it came to satisfaction with the early concepts, I was less than enamored. Granted, my list of “theme” words was far-reaching: sophisticated, no-nonsense, innovative, light-hearted, new, fresh, natural, beautiful, intelligent. I also specified that the logo must not even hint of anything related to women’s cosmetics – no lipstick cases, no brushes, no frills. A tall task, indeed.

At the end of an arduous process, with many visions and revisions, I loved my logo and I love it still. It worked with business cards and packaging and printed materials and website and more. But, please, you be the judge. Does it do what I wanted?

Posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 10:55 am and is filed under Alice Cosmetics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.