[CaptainHaddock]

This is too funny, coming from a company that has completely alienated its customers and users.

See the logo for the Scottish Arts Council

Now look at Quark's new logo

[bradoesch]

Haha, something even worse than their clever use of lime green and orange.

[production_coordinator]

IMHO, Quark never really had a logo... they simply had a type treatment to their company name.

The Q thing seems sophomoric at best. I would have expected more from a design company.

[osxisfun]

meh. i hate quark more than most but I think its a case of 2 designers reaching obvious at different times. No willful intention to copy them I would bet.

[bradoesch]

Originally Posted by osxisfun

meh. i hate quark more than most but I think its a case of 2 designers reaching obvious at different times. No willful intention to copy them I would bet.

I think you're right. They'd be foolish to deliberately copy a logo like that.

[Briareus]

Excellent find!

I'll bet it's a coincidence. Word will probably get to the Scottish Arts Council soon and there will at least be a "friendly dialogue"

Don't remember where I heard this first, but "It might not be your favorite song, but it's got a lot of the same notes!" seems an appropriate quote.

[vinster]

Left a comment on the Scottish Arts Council's web site. Should be interesting to see how this pans out.

[waxcrash]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

The Q thing seems sophomoric at best. I would have expected more from a design company.

The last time I checked, they were a software company.

[production_coordinator]

They crate design software... that's what I meant to say. I would expect more...

[rjenkinson]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

They crate design software... that's what I meant to say. I would expect more...

-r.

[CaptainHaddock]

Too funny, rjenkinson. Out of curiosity, by the way, what does the "japanada" mean under your name?

Briareus, it might be a coincidence, but man… they're not even just similar. They're the same logo.

[travisimo]

they're both simple ass lame logos anyway. they both should have tried a little harder

[th3ph17]

i prefer simple logos. I think the interesting thing is that one appears to represent a lower case "a" while the other appears to represent an upper case "Q"....interesting differences in perception, and great example of how subjective letter shape identification can be.

anyone know what font that is? some symbol/glyph font? i think i may want to use it for my new logo. say, a single letter "P".

[Briareus]

Word is getting out: MacWorldUK article

Question (from a non-pro graphics dabbler): is there an easy way to search for logos? One would think that situations like this might come up more often.

[andi*pandi]

I'm betting it's drawn, not font work. But they seem so very similar, even for the same idea. If two of us TRIED to draw the same concept, it'd be different. Different widths, proportions, etc. This looks almost identical.

[Westbo]

Originally Posted by CaptainHaddock

This is too funny, coming from a company that has completely alienated its customers and users.

See the logo for the Scottish Arts Council

Now look at Quark's new logo

Well, at least it's a different color.

Back in the '70s NBC touted their new "N" logo, spending $600,000 to develop the CI program only to find out Nebraska Public Televsion had the identical design (NPTV's cost: about $100). NBC bought the design rights with buckets of $ and state of the art equipment, only to trash the design and go back to the peacock.

Here's a scary thought... Scottish Arts Council gets a free copy Quark plus some kind of discount on their next purchase (linited time only). Them Quarkies... you gotta love'em...

W2

[travisimo]

a good place to look for logos is www.brandsoftheworld.com

[th3ph17]

the conspiracy widens.....another similar logo? coincidence?

http://photoobjects.net/en/

;-)

[Westbo]

Originally Posted by th3ph17

the conspiracy widens.....another similar logo? coincidence?

http://photoobjects.net/en/

;-)

Same idea all right. Only sideways, the "a" becomes a "p". Too clever. I'm sure multiple versions abound. A creative sage once said, there's no such thing as an "original", only variations.

[himself]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

I'm betting it's drawn, not font work. But they seem so very similar, even for the same idea. If two of us TRIED to draw the same concept, it'd be different. Different widths, proportions, etc. This looks almost identical.

The proportions between the two logos are slightly different... the counter on the Quark version is slightly larger that the SCA version. Otherwise, they are identical.

I personally think it is a really nice form, although not very original (obviously).

edit: I assume that this was a fairly large-budgeted project, and it seems pretty shoddy of the firm that designed the logo to not conduct the research to catch this early. I mean, it is possible that they just missed it, but I tend to believe that it could've been found relatively easily.

[himself]

Originally Posted by Briareus

Question (from a non-pro graphics dabbler): is there an easy way to search for logos? One would think that situations like this might come up more often.

There is no true "easy" way that is at the same time thorough... most identity designers that I'm familiar with do patent and trademark searches (either on their own, or by hiring a patent & trademark lawyer) at some point during the design process, at least for the big-budget projects. Another reason why good identity design can be so expensive.

[godzookie2k]

There is a great write up over at SpeakUp about this. The simplified version is, a) its not really a rip because (and they put it better than me)

Since Quark is the latest to the hip shape party, it is easy, and expected, for some of the holders of these logos to be concerned of plagiarism and condemn Quark for “stealing” their logo. But, seriously, how original is this shape? And how is it different from a circle or a square, heck, how – as a branding element – is it different from a blue square?

This shape has a certain designerly edginess to it: is it a circle? Is it a square? What is it by golly?!

How freakin 'branded' is a geometric shape, really?

[th3ph17]

Originally Posted by godzookie2k

How freakin 'branded' is a geometric shape, really?

as branded as they pay for I guess. At least it doesn't have a Swoosh.

[JustAnOl'Broad]

Originally Posted by th3ph17

i think i may want to use it for my new logo. say, a single letter "P".

I've been signing all my email P~
for years; friends have grown accustomed to it.

P~

[thedvguy]

if it were my logo, i'd sue - and win. it doesn't matter if it was subliminal. it reminds of she's so fine and my sweet lord. the tunes were exact and george harrison had to pay. it doesn't matter if there are subtle differences, it's a rip-off. there are companies that get alot of money to search trademarks. a company like quark should be more careful and if i were them i would be firing some people and coming up with a new logo that didn't look just like someone elses.

[DeathMan]

http://www.creativelatitude.com/arti...905_wurth.html

There is an interesting article about shady logo production.

[andi*pandi]

reminds me of the geometric tech logos in Office Space, for Initech and its across the street neighbor. Basically the same but reversed. But then, the companies were basically interchangeable.

At what point do we run out of originality? If you put 100 designers in a room and tell them to come up with a logo for a software company that begins with Q, what will they come up with? Will any of them be the same?

Are there any companies out there who DON'T need logos?

Also there are some companies who choose their logos out of clip art books, and don't care if 50 million others have them. They suck of course.

[inkhead]

I kinda like the logos, very simple, easy to remember. I contacted quark.. sigh.. they suck anyway

[DeathMan]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

reminds me of the geometric tech logos in Office Space, for Initech and its across the street neighbor. Basically the same but reversed. But then, the companies were basically interchangeable.

At what point do we run out of originality? If you put 100 designers in a room and tell them to come up with a logo for a software company that begins with Q, what will they come up with? Will any of them be the same?

Are there any companies out there who DON'T need logos?

Also there are some companies who choose their logos out of clip art books, and don't care if 50 million others have them. They suck of course.

I was thinking about this, and what I thought of is drawing faces. There are only so many ways to put a face together before you get so far off that your drawings just look bad. However, even most identical twins are different looking. I guess what I'm saying is that a little variation goes a long way. With a logo, you want the face to look as different as any two people picked at random. Its when you design a logo that looks too much like some famous actor that gets you in trouble. Okay, the metaphor is getting murky, but I hope I made my point.