In all, 22 designers—from Moldova, Bulgaria, and who-knows-where-else—submitted entries to my minimal-reward project on CrowdSpring: $200 for a newsletter logo. I asked a few design professionals to help me evaluate the submissions. One of them summarized the field as “fine, and clean, and proper, without being right.”
This entry from CrowdSpring contributor lpavel was praised for converting the M into an icon that suggested both incoming mail, and a speech balloon.
lpavel
My call for entries included no color specs, but lots of designers went with blue. This one gave the point-and-click icon a bit of a pen-nib look, in reference to the newsletter’s writerly slant.
This was the only entry that slightly broke from the more slick look that predominated—just a touch of squiggly messiness in speech balloons emphasizing the newsletter’s intended role as a conversation starter.
The most divisive entry—one judge’s top pick, and another’s least favorite—got the nod on the theory that strong reactions are better than no reactions.