Crowdsourcing the logo for Altimeter

I've had good success setting up my own business at Altimeter Group but one thing I never got around to doing was getting a logo done. Last summer, I was briefed crowdSPRING, which is a marketplace for creative projects. So I've decided to put my logo up as a project there, where designers can submit their ideas.

Why put my brand logo design in the hands of complete strangers? Well, I figured that anything is better than the simple font-based brand identity I have now! I also looked at some of the existing projects that are on the site, like the logo design for Zodiac Tea -- which has 360 submissions as of this post. Not only are the designs excellent, but there's an excellent dialog taking place on the projects, not only between the project owner and individual designers, but also between the designers themselves. This is truly a collaborate effort to design the best logo for the company.

And as a believer in social media, I wanted to see what happens. crowdSPRING built in feedback from the community, so I'm looking forward to having you, my community, give feedback on the submitted designs.

So please come and view the submissions to my project, encourage your designer friends to give it a go, and by all means, give me your feedback on which logo you think best suits me and my new firm.

And I'm curious to know -- how comfortable would you be to do a creative project like this? A logo is one thing, but would you use this process for a marketing piece or even your Website, as this author did?

UPDATE: I'm getting some feedback in comments below, on Twitter, and in blog posts about my use of crowdSPRING.

As an independent consultant just starting out, I don't have the budget to engage a design agency to do a logo design for me -- believe me, I wish I did! As such, my logo design options were to work with organizations like LogoWorks, find someone willing to work at my budget through a referral and cross my fingers, or give crowdSPRING a try to tap into the market for new, unknown talent. 

Given my choices, I decided to use crowdSPRING. Creatives submit designs but in the end, I choose only one design and pay only one designer. I plan to give feedback on every design that's been submitted, and am also encouraging my extended community to also provide feedback to these designers, so that they can get as much out of the process as possible. And hopefully, the designers will get their work exposed to an even greater audience.

My hope is that I'll work with the designer that I choose on other design projects in the future, and that the relationship will grow as my business grows.

There are also two blog posts that look into the issue of crowdsourcing design. The first post was written by Chris Miller, a SVP at the DRAFTfcb agency, where he talks about the potential use of crowdsourcing by agencies. The second post was written by Ross Kimbarovsky, one of the co-founders of crowdSPRING. The post is long and detailed, but there's a comment from Keith that captures my thinking:

"People/Companies who use CrowdSpring know they are not getting a full service design firm. You’re not going to walk into CrowdSpring and get something that’s as high in quality as SimpleBits or AdaptivePath for your UI.

However, CrowdSpring isn’t in that market space. The ESPNs, MTVs, etc. of the world can go out and hire world class design firms to revolutionize their brand. People and companies going to CrowdSpring are looking for “just in time design” on a budget. It appeals to the local small business market that has limited budget, but knows enough to put up something visually appealing.

I think CrowdSpring, in that sense, is serving a great need and isn’t threatening the world of design. I fail to see how or why world class developers/designers would feel threatened by a group of Speculative designers serving a market that, quite honestly, a large design firm wouldn’t want to touch with a 10 foot pole."

I welcome the comments from the No!Spec community, but please also understand my particular situation and goals -- after all, isn't that the first step in building a design relationship?