Part of redesigning this website was also to get a new logo created. Right about the time I was thinking about working on a theme for Dorm Room Biz, I got an email from someone within the LogoInn.com logo design service. They were offering a free logo design, so I knew I could not pass this opportunity up. This takes us all the way back to March. About 2 months is a very long development time, but most of the delays were on my side of the action and not on the designers side.

So, how was the process you’re wondering? It was good and pretty normal; basically as I suspected it to be. I’ve worked with many web and graphic designers over the years and pretty much new what to expect. I was emailed a small logo design questionairre which had different questions such as the style of logo I like, what colors I wanted the logo to have, etc. So after going back and forth for a few emails, we finaly got the details laid out and were ready to hit the ground running.

The logos that I was first shown were along the lines of what I asked for in realtion to the questionaire that I filled out as well as some different examples I sent to the person I was working with. The nice thing about this process was that they were more than happy to make as many revisions as I needed. Now, I don’t know if that is part of their normal service or not, but it worked great for me. I’m the type of person, like many of you probably are, that likes to have a TON of revisions done to designs to try to make them just right. However, there is a point where you have to realize you will never be able to achieve a perfect logo because you’d never be happy with what you had if you went for perfection. So, I’m very happy with the current logo that the site has, I think it goes very well with the theme and colors and look forward to utilizing it for a while to come.

I’d rate my experience with the guys at LogoInn.com pretty well and would consider going back for future logo work. I know there are a ton of options out there when you are looking for a logo design like running a contest, hiring a firm, or checking out a logo desing company like LogoInn.com. Using this type of internet based service may not be for you, but for this type of project, it was the perfect fit!

Check them out if you are in the market for a new logo design!

That is why getting a new logo created for ProfessionalGFX was one of the first things I wanted to do. Now, ProfessionalGFX is a web development business also offering many graphic related services. But, I did not create my own logo. Mainly because I was tapped for ideas and wanted a fresh set of eyes (or in this case many sets) on the business and concept. So, I looked to outside sources.

My first thought was to hire a logo designer but I didn’t want to be strapped to using just one person and a limited number of revisions. So, the next obvious option in outsourcing design work is to hold a contest, which is one of my favorite things to do. Outsourcing design work when possible is such a time savor that you can not deny giving it a shot.

Yet, there are a lot of design competition websites out there. You’ve got 99designs, CrowdSpring, and many more smaller ones. 99designs is definitely the most popular one out there, but can be a bit expensive depending on the value of your competition. Through Twitter I found CrowdSpring and decided to give them a shot.

I laid out what I was looking for in a logo, what it was going to be used for (business cards, letterhead, etc) and also laid out some of my specifications. With that, it was up to the designs to come up with ideas and I provided the critique. There were over 70 entries in the contest which included unique designs and revisions.

In the end I decided on the logo below.

New ProfessionalGFX Logo

I wanted to keep the swoosh type look that was in my previous logo but wanted to switch the color up and wound up with a nice green (reminds me of money!). I also like the incorporation of the swoosh in the GFX lettering.

Up next in this series about rebranding a web development business, I’ll quickly discuss some business card design tips and reasons for having a business card.