I agree the current logo is good. I don't think it
needs change, but I wouldn't be opposed to alternatives if it didn't stray far enough to be a complete rebranding. I think trying to rebrand Bitcoin might not go over well, but it is possible for users&merchants to slowly transition from one logo to a similar-looking logo.
I highly recommend
99designs.com as well. I got my Armory logo done there (see my avatar icon, without the e^ipi), and I thought $300 was completely reasonable for the massive selection and amount of refinement I got. You will have to have someone highly respected and trusted to manage the process (I'm looking at Erik), because it
is a process: designers will contribute tons of great ideas, and you need to constantly dig through them and rate and comment on those designs, so that designers can come up with further ideas, or refine existing ideas to the tune of what is desired.
I think even if you don't end up with a design that you like, you will get tons of ideas, and $300 is nothing for such a high-value project. I'll donate 5 BTC for it.
A couple things to pay attention to, that I didn't think about before I got my logo done:
- (1) It should be simple -- just because it looks cool doesn't mean it's memorable and distinct. Consider google logo (just a 'g'), nike logo (checkmark), facebook, etc. Very simple and effective. No 3D skills are required.
- (2) One of my primary criteria for my Armory logo was that I didn't want it to be round, because if you look at your taskbar right now, you'll see that most of your existing applications use round logos/icons, and it to be distinct. In the world of Bitcoin, that might be too much to ask for, because it will probably have a coin theme... but just a perspective to consider...
- (3) My logo requires gradients to render the 3D properly, and that turned out to be a total PITA when it came to getting shirts printed. I had to pay for full-color printing, even though it's only a couple base colors and I was only getting a tiny print on the left breast, and that increased the cost almost 50%. This isn't relevant for just shirts, there's a lots of applications where full-color is inconvenient (getting stationary created, making signs, etc).
- (3a) Extra credit: the logo should also have the same essence when converted to binary-black-white (no greys), and still be identifiable when black-white is inverted. This further expands where it can exist, and makes it even cheaper to include on Tshirts, signs, etc. It doesn't mean that the base, hi-res design shouldn't have colors/gradients to it, only that it should still be identifiable and look good when converted to black-white.
The current logo succeeds quite well at all those criteria, but as someone who has spent a lot of time in Thailand, I do disagree with its resemblance to the baht symbol (Thai money).
Just thought I'd pass along my own experience with this, since I had to go through the branding process 6 months ago, and have some experience now trying to promote my brand with a full-color 3D logo.
[/list]