In March, AdAge reported that prominent US-based cancer support and advocacy foundation, the LiveStrong Foundation had launched a new logo to put some distance between the organisation and disgraced professional cyclist and Livestrong founder, Lance Armstrong.
The new (and controversial) logo for the
LiveStrong Foundation.
A senior executive, Andy Miller, said the new logo was designed to emphasise the word "Foundation" in the name:
The change is subtle but it is substantive. The positioning of the bars suggests forward and dynamic movement.
However, the new logo was met with mixed reviews. The idea was to highlight the "Strong" and place "Foundation" in black to show strength. Foundation was placed slightly off to the right in the logo design to indicate forward movement. However, critics claimed that the new logo was still too easily associated with Armstrong, especially with the "Strong" still highlighted.
Break down of elements that make up the new Livestrong Foundation logo.
Source: CanadianBusiness.com
We felt the new logo didn't do the Livestrong Foundation justice so we asked our designer community of over 130,000 to help Livestrong Foundation get a new logo design that would help the organisation move away its association with Lance Armstrong and launched an unofficial $750 LiveStrong Foundation Logo Contest. (The winning logo designs would be donated to the organisation.)
Our logo contest caught the attention of the Australian advertising community with Mumbrella and BandT Weekly reporting the contest launch. Editor Kyle Richardson, in a piece for Print&Promo Magazine, wrote that the logo change was only a "minor tweak in terms of the iconography [and] it turns out I am not the only person who thought so."
The design brief required designers to use the foundation's brand colors - yellow, black, grey, and/or white - and to include the organization name, LiveStrong Foundation. We also encouraged designers to use their own judgement on re-interpretation versus remaining inline with the existing brand look.
The contest received 226 designers who submitted a total of 576 designs and the winning designs came from designers based in Bulgaria and the UK.
Design inspiration came from everywhere. Runner up designer Big Blue Currant based his design on the yellow wristband, purchased to support the foundation as it marked his first experience of the Livestrong Foundation.
The circle itself is a shape that represents unity, strength and trust. The ‘v’ was the natural choice for the wristband to stem from and to keep the logo balanced I brought the wristband back through the ‘o’ in ‘strong’; by doing so this also repeats the wristband theme.
Check out the Livestrong Foundation Logo Design showcase below!
Best of the Rest / Top 20!
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wolfgfxdesign - Philippines |
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Voter comment: "I like the way the word 'live is subtly emphasized,
and how the yellow ribbon has replaced the letter 'U' it gives the logo meaning..."
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pauloserrano - United Kingdom |
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Voter comment: "I like the way the shapes are close together, it makes the overall
logo look connected and bold..."
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Most of the submissions to the LiveStrong contest were very impressive, and made for a difficult task in choosing which should be the organization's new logo. Did any design in particular stand out to you? Let us know which one and why you think it should have been the winner in the comments below!
Jo Sabin is Head of Designer Community at DesignCrowd. She's led the company's public relations and social media programs since 2012. With more than ten years' experience working with Australian and international tech startups in the creative industries, Jo has been instrumental in meeting DesignCrowd's objectives in Australia and abroad. Get in touch via Twitter.
