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Overview

In September, Everett Video will celebrate its five-year anniversary. More than a milestone, the anniversary offers an opportunity to evaluate the companys identity, starting with the logo. The consensus throughout the company is to redesign the logo to reflect the free-spirited, creative culture and approach that have become the Everett Video hallmark. Last month, volunteers from each department formed a team to explore the companys options for redesigning the logo. This report is the result of that exploration.

Team Objectives

The teams main objective was to identify options for redesigning the logo. These options include having Everett Video graphic designers complete the project internally, hiring a professional design firm or an external graphic designer, and crowdsourcing the redesign. Whether the design work is performed internally or externally, the team also wanted to specify what needs to change in the logo. In other words, what do employees and customers find appealing in the current logo, and what do they find stale, cluttered, or confusing?

Logo Considerations

The completed logo should be simple, memorable, timeless, versatile, and appropriate for the company. The team identified the following elements to evaluate and consider in the logo and the project overall:

Company name

Tagline

Color palette

Font

Design style

Competitors logos

Schedule

Budget

Methods

Everett Video can use one of three methods to redesign the logo, each with associated benefits and drawbacks.

In-house Designer

The advantage of using an in-house designer is budget. The company would not incur extra costs for the design work because the project would be assigned and completed as a typical Everett Video graphic design project.

The drawback of doing the redesign in-house is that using internal resources means that at least one designer is not working on revenue-producing projects during the redesign. Schedules are also tight, making it difficult to fit an internal project into the mix without delaying a clients project.

Outside Professional

Outside professionals fall into two categories: a design firm and a single independent contractor. In both cases, working with an external graphic designer involves time to meet and review the work. The design firm that Everett Video originally hired is no longer in business, so someone would have to identify, interview, and select a new firm or contractor.

The benefits of working with an outside professional are expertise and simplified management. Budget is a concern, as logo-design services start at $75 per hour. On the other hand, a well-designed logo can last 10 years, making the cost worth the investment.

Crowdsourcing

In general, crowdsourcing involves soliciting ideas, services, or content from a group, usually an online community. A few websites that provide graphic design services through crowdsourcing have top-notch recommendations from their clients. They connect designers from around the world with customers who want high-quality, affordable design services.

In all the crowdsourcing websites surveyed, a client pays a fee, submits a project through the website, and describes the goals, such as redesigning a logo. A typical fee is around $300. The online community of graphic artists submits ideas to earn the project fee.

Advantages are cost and access to a wide range of graphic artists, while disadvantages are management time to filter the proposed ideas and select a graphic artist.

Schedule

Based on past projects and discussions with graphic designers, Everett Video can expect the logo redesign project to take six weeks.

Budget

Design services are only part of the cost of redesigning the logo. Everett Video wants to introduce the new logo at the five-year anniversary celebration. The following table estimates costs for the logo and the event.

Service

Estimate

Design

$300 or higher

Printing

$5000

Website rebranding

$2000

Catering

$750

Site rental

$250

Project Management

To keep the project on track, the Logo Redesign Team proposes using the communication documents outlined in the following table.

Document

Recipient

Status report

Eric Everett

Budget tracker

Catherine Gaudette

Project schedule

Jeff Cortez

Issue tracker

Catherine Gaudette

Project Team Members

The following Everett Video employees participated as Logo Redesign Team members:

Video Production Vicki Ewing

Design Services Baxter Stanton

Creative Kia Thao

Accounts Nick Georgi

Management Eric Everett

Administrative Carrie Cullen

Project Team Assignments

Team assignments depend on the method selected to redesign the logo. All of the team members may need to participate in the logo redesign and event planning if Everett Video elects to hire an outside professional.