Sony learned the hard way that crowdsourcing a logo is a bad idea
Once upon a time, Sony decided that its now-iconic logo was due for a redesign. What better time to redesign a logo dating from the’50s? But the company didn’t enlist a design team to come up with a new emblem. No, Sony chose to produce the redesign a public spectacle.
It launched the so-called”Sony International Logotype Design Contest,” and it took in almost 30,000 submissions from all over the world. A committee is formed and seen each and every entrance before narrowing down the list to 59. The finalists is demonstrated into the board of supervisors, company executives, designers, and sales managers. As executives were searching through the finalists, Sony has to have realized it had made a huge mistake.
That’s when Sony realized it made a Massive mistake
It’s not rare for organizations to explore a redesign before discovering during that process that its old layout is the very best of all of them. However, by putting the entire event in the public eye, Sony essentially obligated itself to alter its logo. To start with, the business would need to choose a logo designed by an amateur to be the surface of its own brand.
As you may anticipate, the layouts weren’t up to snuff. It’s a lot tougher than it looks to make a timeless logo. According to Sony’s official history, co-founder Masaru Ibuka”decided that none of the layouts was much better than the first one.”
And so the company moved to end the whole affair: a panel of judges chose three finalists, and rather than awarding first, second, and third place prizes, it split the prize money equally.
An advertisement was published in Time Magazine thanking everyone for their time and effort. and it gently noted that “until the time comes in the long run that we decide to make a change, the Sony logo will stay the same” The plan contest then faded into memory.
However thanks to designer Greg Prichard, who stumbled upon the ad while sifting through a 1981 issue of Time, we can now see the top three designs. The logos are very much products of the time, and we can’t help but thank Sony for sticking with its roots.
