this is my response: "hi. many of the designs for this logo look similar. many have the same colors, composition, and design elements. the choice of a badge logo for this logo makes sense because a family type grill is often round. the color combination also makes sense because fire on a grill breaks down into red, yellow, black and white. in this case, our designer chose to use the handles on the grill to define it as a grill. the challenger's logo does not have handles. our designer added fork and knife elements below the logotype. the challenger's logo does not have those elements. the challenger's logo has slanted bars below the logo that symbolize a grill. our designer's grill bars are thinner and are placed above the logotype. the challenger's logotype is all caps. our designer chose upper and lower case letters for the logotype. the challenger's logo allows elements to jut outside the circle. our designer kept all elements within the circle. the challenger's fire symbol is yellow and red. our designer's fire symbol is yellow, red, and white. the challenger did not letter space the secondary typography. our designer did letter space the secondary typography. the challenger's secondary typography is blue. our designer's secondary typography is black. when i google search logos for bbq, i find that many are round with fire and slab logotype in the center. looking through all of the entries i also find that many are very similar. while i agree that the elements are similar, i do not feel that our designer "copied exactly" the challenger's logotype. a bbq logo (looking at a google search of bbq logos) frequently looks the way both the challenger and our designer have designed their logos. i believe the look is similar because it is what we are accustomed to seeing in a bbq logo. therefore, the claim that our designer's logo lacks originality can be said of many of these designs, including the challenger's design. in each there are similarities. in each there are differences."
i added "further, if i were to critique all of the entries in this contest, i would say that most all fail at being "original" in that most all exhibit the typical elements and configuration of any BBQ logo. in my opinion, only one entry successfully overcomes the typical and is more "original," and that is the entry from ssmack. however, my opinion on the matter is of no consequence. the decision ultimately sits squarely with the client. thank you. warmly, g" |