Recently the London Olympics concluded; what that means for those of us who have a roll in the creative world is that we no longer have to stare at one of the worst logos ever conceived. The Logo was met with a lot of criticism on every front, from the color schemes being awful and seeming dated to potentially drawing comparisons to some less than flattering things.

With that being said, it wouldn't be a total embarrassment if say someone in the IOC commissioned their 4-year old to do the logo design, but the real problem is that it comes at a cost of just over $600,000. It was designed by Wolff Olins in 2007 and it is safe to say that very few times in the history of mankind has half a million been spent on something so god-awful. I mean really, you could have given anyone in the Spareparts creative department an hour to work at standard wages and they would have knocked it out of the park.

So this all really leads to one big question "What does a good logo actually cost?" and the answer is surprisingly little. Don't worry either, because I come prepared with some figures that will back that up.

For starters, one of the most loved logos of all time, and certainly one of the most recognizable, the Nike Swoosh was created at a cost of only $35. It was developed by a college student in the early 1970s and when it was looked at by the brand's co-founder Phil Knight he was quoted as saying "I don't love it, but I think it will grow on me."  It probably has, as the iconic check now helps the brand gross close to $20 Billion per year.

Another amazing example of how simplicity is sometimes the best answer possible is the memorable and influential Coca-Cola script. When Coke's founders enlisted their bookkeeper Frank M. Robinson to create something they could use to sell their product it cost them the lofty sum of zero dollars. He wanted it to look based and said that the two "C's" would look good together in advertising. Boy was he right.

So at the end of the day, it is not how much it costs to create your logo that determines it's worth, but rather how effective it is when being shown to the buying public. Judging by the following that the SP has created over the last two decades it is safe to say that the logo our company uses, which cost substantially less than the Olympic disaster is doing the job just fine.

Sourced from HUH.