Time for another round of Rate the Competitor Logos on Brandcurve.  Today, we’re comparing the logos from direct competitors – McDonald’s vs. Burger King.  Cast your vote below and leave a comment to tell us why you voted the way you did.

Images: McDonalds.com, BurgerKing.com

What got Brandcurve readers talking during the first six months of 2008?  Check out the posts below to see what the buzz was about.
Starbucks Rolls Out $1 Coffee and Free Refills
Quiznos Tries to Stay Competitive
Kool-Aid Scented Reeboks are Coming: This is Not a Joke
Paula Abdul Relaunches Her Brand at the Super Bowl
Target Dismisses Bloggers (and Customers) as Insignificant and Irrelevant
Color Theory Primer – The Color Wheel
Discovery Channel Logo Update
5 Steps to Branding Your Business
Trademark Violation or Not? You Decide

Today at Brandcurve we have a guest post from brand developer and designer (and one of my favorite bloggers) Prescott Perez-Fox.  You can read more about Prescott at the end of this post.  Without further ado, following is Prescott’s view on branding and the Olympic Games. 
Next month, all eyes will be on Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Olympics are a time for the nations of the world, in spite of their differences and animosities, to come together in the celebration of sport. While sport is still the focus, we have to acknowledge how the Olympics have become the …read more

The Wal-Mart logo has been replaced with an updated, “sunnier” version.  Wal-Mart hasn’t updated its logo since 1992 (you can see the evolution of the Wal-Mart logo on the Brand New blog.  Wal-Mart claims the new logo is meant to support its overall strategy to change its reputation from behomoth to local retailer of the people.  I’m not sure if anyone is going to buy that, but nevertheless, the majority of us (myself included) still shop there.

What do you think of this logo?  I can’t help but be reminded of Cingular when I look at it.  Take the poll below …read more

Small business owners are typically at the mercy of the designer when it comes time to have their logos designed to support their brand identities.  It’s important to sit down with your designer and make sure he or she understands what your brand promise is and where you want your brand to go.  It’s also important to educate your designer about your customers, market and competition, so he or she can design the most compelling logo.
Last year, I wrote a post called Top 5 Logo Design Do’s, but there are also a few technicalities you shouldn’t overlook during the design …read more

Each television news network has its own brand image, but how do their logos stack up against eachother?  I thought it would be fun to compare them. 
Here are seven news network logos.  Which ones stand out the most to you?  Which ones most clearly communicate the network’s brand image accurately (or inaccurately)?  Which ones do you like and which ones are in desperate need of an overhaul?  Leave a comment and share your opinion.
 
Frankly, I think they could all use a redesign.  To me, the Fox Business logo is the only one that stands out from the crowd.
Images: cnn.com, bloomberg.com, …read more

The question – are these two logos a bit too similar? 
Phorm Design, a Sheffield, England-based design agency with three employees, created their logo first (three years ago). 

Phorm (the big online advertising company that’s traded on the London Stock Exchange) changed its name about a year ago and this logo came about as part of the name change. 

So what do you think?  Are these logos a little too close for comfort?  The companies are in slightly different businesses.  Do you think this would be a trademark violation or not?
Images: Phormdesign.co.uk and Phorm.com

First, everyone was rushing to redesign their logos for web 2.0.  Now, everyone needs to animate their logos.  What’s next? 
The Discovery Channel unveiled a new logo earlier this month.  Have you watched any programs on The Discovery Channel recently?  If so, you’ve probably seen the animated Discovery Channel logo.  It spins incessantly on the bottom of your television screen completely distracting you from the show you’re trying to watch.

I stumbled across a post on Logo Design Blog last week that showed a picture from Flickr of various logos of well-known companies.  The unique thing about the picture is it only included the first letter of the company name taken from each logo.  I thought it was interesting to see how many companies people can identify just by the first letter. 
Take a look at the following examples and see if you can identify the companies that go with the first letters of these logos:
       
What do you think?  Could you identify all five companies just by looking at …read more

The tenth and final part of the Brandcurve Color Theory Primer provides a list of online resources where you can learn more about color.

Color Marketing Group: the premier international association for color design professionals. CMG’s mission is to forecast color information and trends for professionals who design and market color.
International Association of Color Consultants North America (IACCNA): an organization of color professionals specially trained in the functional application of color and the human response.  The IACCNA also offers courses in color.
Inter-Society Color Council (ISCC): the principle professional group in the United States dedicated to the field of color and encompassing the …read more