LogoGarden.com, a website offering $79 pre-made logos was allegedly busted back in August for selling more stolen logo designs. Over 200 to be exact. Read more on the logo theft here. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident of large scale “identity theft”. Logomaid.com is also apparently guilty of selling blatant logo rip offs, as are many other sites offering these cheap stock logos.
In an attempt to rectify the problem, many in the design community have spoken out loudly against this assault on our profession. Even AIGA (the professional association for design) is pursuing the issue.
But sadly, instead of these thieving companies being brought to justice for their actions, in the case of LogoGarden.com, they are being rewarded by investors in the amount of 2 million dollars in financing. And ironically, they have profited even more from the great amount of exposure they have received from this story (in the form of higher search engine rankings). It appears sometimes crime does pay.
There’s a big difference between coincidentally creating a logo that too closely resembles an existing design, and continually creating/offering blatant rip offs. Websites like LogoGarden have a moral duty to stop selling stolen logos and profiting from the hard work of other designers. I feel it’s my duty as a logo designer to speak out against this and I hope others do as well.
I would suggest to anyone looking to buy one of these “cheap” logo designs, to minimize your risk by doing some research into whoever you are buying from. Saving a few dollars now, may just cost you more time and money in the end. Having to re-brand your business because you purchased a stolen design, could prove to be quite costly.
So what are your thoughts on this subject? Are you a designer who has had one of your designs stolen? Are you a client who is thinking about purchasing from a crowd-sourcing or pre-made logo website?