The political arguments that ensue at every family get together are fantastic. Sometimes I wonder if Dad could wean himself off blood pressure medication if it weren’t for MSNBC. But he’d also have to deal with the fact that his namesake is a serious Anti-Fox News evangelist. And their choice of news media is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their political differences… or is it?

They’re both very smart people, and generally I’d say they both have valid points. What’s more, after they’ve argued for an hour or two, they eventually calm down, and occasionally even agree on a few things. So why the mental brawl?

I believe most sources of news media out there teach us to marginalize others’ viewpoints. They seem less concerned with honesty and problem solving than they are with ad-space and ratings. Ratings they collect by creating an addictive sense of animosity toward anyone who happens to have another point of view. And nothing glues an audience to its chairs like a good fight. Just ask the pro wrestlers. But I’ll just keep cheering for people like poligazette.com.

Some time ago, I’d noticed a post asking for a new header graphic. I thought to myself, “What they need is a logo, but much as I like this site I just don’t have time.” Then one evening when I did have time and was particularly appreciating their site, I decided to play with a few ideas, and came up with this:

New poligazette.com logo uses a compass instead of a star

Here’s what it used to look like. They’re quite happy with the difference.

Old poligazette.com header image

When I went to make myself an invoice template in open office years ago, my logo wasn’t importing well. So I worked up new one that would work in plain text, with turquoise text and an orange asterisk in lieu of the supernova symbol I’d created. And to my surprise, I liked it better.

For one thing, the old symbol I’d made (which you can see in my favicon) looked a little like a circular saw blade. Plus my blog was becoming and more random, and asterisks are wild characters. (Just like me. Kidding. Kinda.) And of course I also liked that an asterisk/star could still vaguely reference a supernova, but that’s another story saga.

But now I’m seeing stars! Everywhere! Is the Asterisk the new Swoosh?

I’ve noticed them on banner ads for various companies out there on the web and wondered if their asterisks were as well intentioned as mine. But imagine my horror when I noticed yet another asterisk laden logo.. this one in blue and orange much like my blog.. for WALMART!?

When I designed this site layout and logo, I was purposely avoiding the look other sites and designs had at that time. I wanted to go simple and accessible.. something I could design once and forget about for years on end. Which is precisely what I’ve done. But now that freakin WALMART looks like me, I feel like I have to change to avoid looking like them. What would you do?

I’ll post Walmart’s logo here and will add in other asterisky logos as I find them. If you see any, drop me a note and I’ll add them here as well.

All of these logos are trademarked and / or copyrighted by their various owners, even if they are smelly old copycats. And if it turns out they ARE smelly old copycats with no originality whatsoever, I surely hope my logo doesn’t make me look like one of them.

Wedding Essentials Logo

Wedding Essentials Logo in White

As always, a good logo should work as well in color as it does in black and white or in a single color. That way your logo will work no matter where you use it: from your website to a silk-screened tee, from letterhead to large banners to metal cutouts, you’ll be ready.

Cheap logo designs, such as those you might get in a logo contest, will often dazzle with full colors, drop shadows, and gradients, but when it comes time to use the logo in print, you run into troule or have to pay your print shop to make it work.

Drop shadows and gradients can jazz up a graphics made with your logo, but if the logo cant stand on its own, you’ll regret it sooner or later. If you need help converting your logo to a format that works this way, drop me a note.

They’ve asked that we not use these logos on our sites if we have current valid fantastico licenses. Handsonwebhosting.com does just that, and I’m a part of that. So here are a couple examples:

An older fantastico logo - OI!

Fantastico logo Updated just a little on a flat white background

Fantastico Web 2.0 style button on black

Tiny powered-by icon

If your existing logo is in need of a little love or just enough scalability to get it on a printed brochure, just drop me a project request on my comment page, along with a link to your existing logo. Take it from Fantastico – if you want a better looking logo but also want to keep your identity you’ve established, all it takes is the right designer to let you have your cake and eat it too.

This lawn care company was looking for a logo to use on their truck, business cards, letter head, etc. that reflected a look of precision and professionalism. This was my solution.

Turf Solutions Logo

I chose to use one color to save on printing costs. The angular font and shapes convey the precision you’d expect with a professional lawn care service.

Here’s a conservative looking logo pitch for an accounting consultant.

Abacus Consulting