Logo contests might be the best option for startup company looking for a new logo on a tight budget but a number of the world's most famous logos and big brands have benefited from the value and creativity that a good contest can generate. A logo contest or competition places an open call to designers to submit designs to suit a brief. Once the call has been placed any designer who can see it is free to make a submission. Part of a logo contest's appeal comes from the fact you get to see hundreds of designs from hundreds of designers in a very competitive market. Over the past century many big names have searched for their new logo via crowdsourcing and been remarkably successful.
Below are some examples of famous brands who used a design contest to get their logo:
5 Famous / Big Brand Logo Contests
Toyota
Toyota started a competition in 1936 to get their current logo. They received 27 000 entries and chose the design that you now see on the front grill or the back of every one of their cars.
Volkswagen
Interestingly Volkswagen's equally iconic logo was created by an internal office competition (when they were a part of Porsche) in the 1930's.
Google's Favicon
Google's little favicon that you see whenever you open google in your browser was acheived through a logo design contest in 2009. The winning design was chosen from thousands of others.
Wikipedia
In 2003 Wikipedia decided their logo wasn't global enough and was too text based. They came up with a contest on their own site and ended up with their globe image that you see on their site now. This was deemed much more appropriate to their needs.
UN Habitat
Earlier this year the United Nations branch "Habitat" launched a new campaign called the "World Urban Campaign." They placed a call to designers from all over the world to create the logo you see below.
Conclusion
A logo contest is definitely not really a new thing and not just for small buziness. If anything large, innvoative brands like Toyota were pioneers in logo contests and have been doing it for decades (very successfully!).
Get designs like these... Start your design contest now!
Written by DesignCrowd on Friday, November 19, 2010
DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.
