The Logoworks Saga ...

Almost since the beginning of the LogoWorks saga it was a constant back and forth on the HOW forum and around the internet in places, with one side feeding off the other, each getting snarly at times. Some logos put forward as examples were exact copies. Some I felt should not have been presented but hey, everyone was on a roll. Great comments came out about the industry, and some pretty crappy ones too. Swords were crossed. Friendships extended. It was all rather strange.

I'm not sure how I would have stood up under the same fire, but instead of denying, pooh poohing, throwing veiled (and not so) threats of a lawsuit, losing it on the HOW forum and getting stroppy, then marching around the internet saying we are just a small group of 'malicious designers', perhaps this could have been nipped in the bud from the get go?

Jeff Kearl, CMO of LogoWorks: They are malicious “ ...all of those postings are written by a handful of designers that resent our business model. They feel we are devaluing the graphic design industry because we charge so little for what we do. Our model is disruptive ... a small number of graphic designers don’t see it this way and are trying to blog us to death. They are malicious.”

Are we malicious designers? No. We may be pissed off designers with still to be answered questions, but malicious and pissed off are not the same. As designers, we felt we had the right to ask. We felt we had the right to an honest response from Logo Works. We felt we had the right to push the issue on an open platform, which we did.

And if you look at the many links below you'll find it was not a 'handful' of designers at all.

LogoWorks Saga: Starting at the beginning

HOW Design Forum LOGOWORKS.com or LOGOWORST.com? 'Bad Design Kills'

Letter To Whom it may concern
"As a veteran graphic designer of 19 years and owner of my own design firm I felt obligated to comment regarding Rhonda Abrams blatant Thumbs Up™ for LogoWorks.com. Your readers, small business owners, start-ups and the like should reconsider the overt praise Rhonda heaped upon LogoWorks.com and their services."

LOGOWORKS.COM RIP-OFFS
"Since first addressing this issue I have personally been accused of lying and threatened with a lawsuit by Arteis the parent company of both LogoWorks.com and InstaLogo.com. Many other designers have found other clear rip-offs as well and have posted them on the HOW Design Forum."

HOW Design Forum MY LOGOWORKS.com DEEPTHROAT

HOW Design Forum more 'instalogo' goodness

HOW Design Forum LogoWorks: what it means

Graphic Design Forum LogoWorks or LogoJERKS?

Mompreneurs Online Forum Buyers beware: Logoworks stinks

'The Prepared Mind' was the top blog keeping up with the LW saga
LogoWorks or LogoJERKS?
LogoWorks: set the record straight More LogoWorks’ greatest rips?
An open letter to the Wall Street Journal
The LogoWorks controversy rages on
LogoWorks RESPONDS
Two LogoWorks designers speak
LogoWorks backs out of Friday podcast
Podcast #8: Robert Wurth, improving designer/client relationships

The Prepared Mind Podcasts

Top articles on the subject

Creative Latitude Dear Ms Bounds

Creative Latitude LogoWorks: Who is to Blame?

Anthony Yap | SEO expert Reputation and Brand Management Online

Thomas Kryton Examining the mythology

Commpiled LogoWorks: Who is to Blame?

A Designers Archive
Pistols and Swords at Dawn
Dear Laura Ries
Putting it into Perspective
Beating LW at their own Game
Etreme X Copies
Taking a bite out ot LogoWorks

Jason Santa Maria Automation Will Kill Us All

Blogs with something to say

Logopalooza Those Logoworks fellas up to it again… "Appears that Logoworks have begun posting via blogs on a number of their ’shell’ sites, most notably logodesign.com (recently purchased from another party who now run logomagic.com) as well as businesslogos.com (while it claims to be owned by Business Logos Inc., if you look under the hood it appears to be just another Logoworks site in different clothing, and pricing) ... Both have been cranking out post after post extolling the virtues of, you guessed it, Logoworks. This has the sum effect of knocking the relevance of any other blogs that might happen to be less favorable of LW, especially on Technorati, which keeps a farily instant track of what’s being posted in the Blogosphere."

PHOSITA® ::: an intellectual property law blog! "Cheap" Logo Design Can Be Costly The moral of the story: Call your favorite trademark lawyer before using a new logo, especially if the logo comes from a discount designer.

UnBeige No Logo The Logoworks fiasco has been an ongoing, very interesting read. The story is kind of your basic good vs. evil, except, like all things in real life, very muddled. Comes down to this company, Logoworks, who will design a logo for your company on the cheap. Really cheap. Some designers on a HOW Magazine forum, already kind of bewildered by these kinds of companies, like most designers are, started seeing duplicates in Logoworks' catalogs, i.e. they were copies of ones already in use by other companies, i.e. plagerism.

CreativeGuy LogoWorks: Who is to Blame? Robert Wurth has written a great article at Creative Latitude offering insight into LogoWorks, a company which provides cheap logos and uses freelance designers to accomplish its task.

Design Observer Sadly, it happens all the time, but seldom has logo larceny been so carefully documented. [MB]

Jack Yan I was referred to this page, which deals with some of the practices at LogoWorks, one such company at issue. Scroll to near the bottom of the page for some humdingers which, in my professional legal opinion, come far too close to some existing work. One is in the shape of an X. Caveat emptor, but it’s going to be hard going against certain attorneys.

Mike Davidson: Originality in Logo Design Originality in Logo Design

V2 design-management.de The case of LogoWorks

Directory The Prepared Mind: LogoWorks

Small Business Logo Design Logo Design, A Simple Way to Get Clients

Small Business Logo Design Vital Stages of Logo Design

Business of Design Follow up to Logoworks.com Post It does appear that you get what you pay for. Nothing like paying $350 to open yourself up to a lawsuit. As learned in the Intellectual Property Talk, if those logos were copyrighted, registered and a suit was filed, the agency (logoworks) or client could be in for up to $100,000 in damages per infringement. But who cares, you need a logo for $350, right?

Dan Century Excuse me while I borrow your logo

AC/OS Open sourcing your logo They can argue that this is the fault of the designer who supplied the logo, but that doesn't really cut it - it is Logoworks that is selling the design to the client, and as such they are responsible for supplying something that is fit for the purpose it is being sold for.

Fast Logo Design: Logo Design A Simple Way to Get Clients ... copied logos ... not an isolated incident. A number of designs that raised alarms were found both on the LogoWorks site and on the site InstaLogo.com ... they imply that their design specialists offer a superior product than other designers. If this is the case, then one might wonder why some of their superior specialists feel the need to "borrow" from the work of others.

The ZehnKatzen Times [design] Whither Logoworks?

Dimitris Giannitsaros Logo second thoughts

Internet corner Borrowed Logos: A Symptom of Market Void?

Adventures In Blogging! LOGOWORKS RIP-OFF SCANDAL LATEST UPDATE

Thomas Kryton, Examining the mythology Logoworks, Examining the mythology

youcantdesign logoworks.com part III

Designorati Borrowed Logos, a Symptom of Market Void?

IP Lawsuits "Cheap" Logo Design Can Be Costly

Blogs spreading the news in the Blogsphere

OWT Cheap Logos ... or not Have you seen those spam emails from companies wanting to help you revolutionize your company and improve your image with a new logo? I have, and I've also seen my share of web sites offering incredibly inexpensive logo design. Before you take them up such an amazing offer, check out Bad Design Kills, which has spotted some rip-off jobs from one such company.

iaslash XPLANE LOGOWORKS.COM RIP-OFFS

The Presurfer LOGO RIP-OFFS Bad Design Kills has a side-by-side comparison gallery of logo rip offs by Logoworks.com. The examples show the original logo and define its source and then the rip-off logo created by LogoWorks.com.

Lnx2 | .Plans Logoworks.com Rip-offs Logoworks.com Rip-offs showing that the piecework studio Logoworks.com is not all it's cracked up to be.

21st Century Logoworks.com Rip-Offs As a designer, I get inspiration from good design everywhere I find it, but these people should be ashamed of themselves.

David Petrie Logoworks Ripoffs Used to think LogoWorks was a cool company until I found this page full of rip-offs. Sir! I will no longer be spending my hard-earned money at your store!

LooksSmar's Furl LOGOWORKS.COM RIP-OFFS

Jason Santa Maria LogoWorks.com Rip-offs

Eyevert the eye opener blog LOGO RIP-OFFS

Be A Design Group Change Is Good?

Bordertown Design Ethics, Business Ethics, and Stock Purchases

chris rush cohen Are Online Logo Companies Getting Their Trademark Infringement On?

PandaPause Design Thieves vs Posse

Prepressology Logo Chop-Shop = Logoworks?

*design pandemonium* * LogoWorks or NoLogoWorks *

Marketing and Advertising Tips for Small Business Being Logo Wise Does Size Matter?

GotLogos revisited Feeder LOGOWORKS.COM RIP-OFFS?

mezzoblue Logoworks.com Rip-offs