FIRST Logo

[DonRotolo]

This brings up a larger point on the same topic: Sponsor Logos.

Everyone in FIRST needs to understand that a corporate logo is not just a design - it IS the company to the outside world. Corporate identity is a very important thing in the big world, and using a logo that is "almost the same as" but not "EXACTLY the same as" can cause a corporation to lose control of their logo IF they do not pursue that incorrect usage by legal means.

In other words, they are forced to choose between having their lawyers ask you to cease and desist, or giving up their logo. The law doesn't really allow for exceptions, and I'm sure they'd really hate to drag you to court.

The point is, PLEASE take the time to ask your sponsors exactly how you may and may not use their logo, AND have them approve EVERYTHING that displays their logo, no matter how unimportant YOU think it is. They are your sponsors, you need to treat them like the kind, benevolent providers that they are.

I can't emphasize this enough.

Don

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

This brings up a larger point on the same topic: Sponsor Logos.

Everyone in FIRST needs to understand that a corporate logo is not just a design - it IS the company to the outside world. Corporate identity is a very important thing in the big world, and using a logo that is "almost the same as" but not "EXACTLY the same as" can cause a corporation to lose control of their logo IF they do not pursue that incorrect usage by legal means.

In other words, they are forced to choose between having their lawyers ask you to cease and desist, or giving up their logo. The law doesn't really allow for exceptions, and I'm sure they'd really hate to drag you to court.

The point is, PLEASE take the time to ask your sponsors exactly how you may and may not use their logo, AND have them approve EVERYTHING that displays their logo, no matter how unimportant YOU think it is. They are your sponsors, you need to treat them like the kind, benevolent providers that they are.

I can't emphasize this enough.

Don

Quoted for truth. I did some advertisements last spring as part of a course here at USC, and it took several revisions for the clients (whose logos are blurred out in the links, by their request)
to be satisfied with the use of their logos. (And then have all that going on the week of Palmetto, just for extra fun.)

One thing that can be done in the absence of good, quality logos is simply to use no logos. That's the approach 1618 took last year, and the results looked good while still doing its intended job. (Just, uh, don't do this.)

[synth3tk]

ROFL at your last link, Bill. That's, uh, very untraditional way of doing things. We didn't even advertise on our robot. But that is an excellent idea though. Also, we didn't put them on our t-shirts, but that's because of some... miscommunication.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by blakcheez

ROFL at your last link, Bill. That's, uh, very untraditional way of doing things. We didn't even advertise on our robot. But that is an excellent idea though. Also, we didn't put them on our t-shirts, but that's because of some... miscommunication.

I would hope that you put enough on the robot to satisfy <R13> last year:

Originally Posted by <R13>

<R13> ROBOTS must display their school name, and primary sponsor name and/or logo whenever
the ROBOT is on the field (including practice sessions). The support provided by the
corporate sponsors and mentors on your team is important, and is to be acknowledged with
the appropriate display of their names/logos on the exterior of the ROBOT.

[synth3tk]

Let's just say we barely put our team number on. This thread has brought to my attention that I should bring these points up before the season starts. We're a small team, and slacked until the last two weeks. I really wasn't proud, but history taught us that.

[Daniel Bathgate]

Thanks for the links, AndyB. I couldn't find a large version of the logo for the life of me before (though why I didn't look at more of the results searching for "logo" on FIRST's website I'll never know.)

We're going to be designing our website soon, and I'll be sure to keep this in mind. I knew that having the FIRST logo on a team's site was a requirement in the website contest, but I had no idea this document existed. Thank you!

Though I wonder why they give jpegs for electronic use - the logo is much better suited for a gif or png. Ah well, it's easy enough to compress the vector images ourselves.