Active Rain November 21, 2010

The Greatness of Logo Tournament

Not long ago, I decided to create a new website for a specific niche I wanted to focus upon, and an idea for a new website was born. It is currently under construction, and the need of a good logo arose. There is only so much a busy guy like myself can do with Windows Paint, and between the dearth of time and inclination to not drop a mint on hiring someone, a vague recollection of the last New York Raincamp (thanks you, Google Documents) had me check out Logotournament.com. 

Logo Tournament is awesome. Here’s how it works: You pay at least $250, explain what you want, and then pick from ideas that the designers on the site offer. You start by providing details in their “logo brief” process about the logo you seek, such as color scheme, theme, tone and layout, and then you rank the submissions, which often start after only a few hours. The whole thing is genius. I had my first submission in about 3 hours, and with 67 hours left in my 5 day “contest” I now have 69 logos to choose from. 

It gets better. You can search the designers, see their work in any industry you specify, and invite submissions based on those you think could help, and even give feedback on what they offer. You can search current public contests (some are private). You can search designers. You can search by industry. You can not search at all and let the submissions come on their own. I sought out some good real estate designers and got them to submit. 

Logo Tournament

Once a submission from a designer is made, you can make comments, feedback and suggestions. You rank the submissions so designers can see what you prefer, and when a winner is chosen at the end (contests run from 5-7 days) you own the logo. I bid $350 on mine to try and attract a higher caliber of design, and I even saw some higher bids. But where can you get a professional logo for 10 times that amount? I am getting really quality submissions from Asia, the US, Europe and Canada. 

Given the price I may give the company logo a face lift, and there are other possibilities. Agents can make their own logo. Teams can create their symbol and tagline. You might have a side business that is a logo and good WordPress site away from having a more professional presence. The mind boggles. The wallet doesn’t.