Chris Dominello and Mike Roussell created an antioxidant-infused coffee called Neuro Coffee. Before launching their company last winter, they needed a logo. A design shop can take “up to four weeks and tens of thousands of dollars,” says Dominello, and they didn’t want to spend either. So they instead used 99designs, an online startup that sets up design contests: Entrepreneurs post a brief and offer a prize (in this case, $1,600), and people across the world submit entries. “We had 40 different designers with 40 images in, like, an hour,” Dominello says. Here are six, plus explanations from the designers. Turn the page upside down to find out the winner.
A: “I tried to merge the concepts of a healthy brain and a good and natural coffee. I wanted something fun with something evocative, like the smell of coffee beans freshly ground.” -- Jorge de la Cruz Rodríguez, Granada, Spain
B: “We used the company name as the idea launchpad. I thought about the structure of the brain and the coffee bean and tried to implement an icon that would marry these two entities.” -- Jenny of Project4 Designs, Southeast Asia
C: “When I’m creating a logo, the first thought is to make it something non-designers will understand easily. This is obvious -- when you think about ‘neuro,’ that’s something in your head.” -- Dimitrije Mikovi, Belgrade, Serbia
D: “I got the main idea right after reading the company name. Basically, it’s a brain symbolizing the neuro part and a coffee cup to illustrate the branch of business the company is in.” -- Martin Junge Kjøbeløv, Aalborg, Denmark
E: “A more targeted brief can make me work faster. This brief led me to do some research, and the design contains three elements: brain shape, coffee bean and neuron pattern.” -- Angga Mahardika Putra, Garut, West Java, Indonesia
F: “This coffee bean resembles a brain with its neurons. The power symbol dividing two sides of the bean/brain implies that coffee is a power that helps the brain be more efficient.” -- Vasilije Bosnjakovic, Belgrade, Serbia
Why the winner won: When the designs started pouring in, the partners intuitively saw what they didn’t like: traditional-looking coffee logos. Then they were drawn to several logos with faces/brains and coffee. One face was almost great, but the jawline was off. “You can see a face and say, ‘God, he looks angry,’” says Dominello. The winner, on the other hand, was Zen. “It’s a peaceful face. It’s simplistic, gets across the message easily, that the coffee is associated with brain health,” he says. “We loved it so much we decided to make 5,000 T-shirts.” And the winner is … C!
A night out with a delivery driver.
If it's mobile, there's probably machine learning or an intelligent assistant at work.
Check out this month's newly tested apps and hardware for startups, including circular computers, creator tablets, mini projectors, and Voice-over-IP (VoIP) software.
The 8th generation, 2nd 14nm process refinement chips before Intel moves to 10nm.
Wildly popular in the 1980s, Choose Your Own Adventure books brought role playing and variable-ending adventures to book format. You Chose Wrong is an entertaining blog that catalogs the death pages of the books.
Relax How a Coffee Startup Chose its Crowdsourced Logo stories
What is a marketing plan and why is it so essential to the success of your business? Find out here, in the first section of our comprehensive guide to creating a marketing plan.
Rule #3: don't tie yourself down with too many rules.
Why entrepreneurs should select Facebook as your primary digital marketing channel.
The details matter.
There's a better way to leverage influencers.
Having trouble marketing your small business? These six outside the box ideas will help.
Should you make the switch?
Casual collaboration spots boost office creativity.
As the company suffers blow after blow to its reputation, users are deleting the app.
Don't make this common mistake.
They make chemistry look easy.
Entrepreneur teamed up with CultureIQ to rank high-performance cultures at small-sized companies for our Top Company Cultures list.
Entrepreneur and Culture IQ spent months searching for the best cultures in the U.S.
They're not just party planners.
Gatekeepers can only say no. Try these techniques for gaining access to their bosses who can say yes.
If you haven't checked this entire list, you aren't ready to launch.
It's a lot of money, but worth the cost.
Some of the most buzz-worthy ads court real controversy.
Founders who don't get the basics right are rewarded with the opportunity to learn from failure.
Radical financial transparency can help -- and hurt -- your business
How one man used social media to become a legend in his own mind -- and in Peru.
Make sure you know what's working.
The better your brand as a businessperson, the more it helps your company.
Knowing how to tell your story makes all the difference.
Who are you, and what can you contribute? Once your consumer audience knows these things, you're on your way.
How a powerful personal brand can help your business achieve massive success.
Entrepreneurs should pay close attention to how these two hotel chains merge their brands and strategies.
Ever thought to target an influencer and build a relationship? Promote content directly? Call people on their bull****?
Long-range wireless charging tech would eliminate the need for a tangle of cords and accessories, but despite recent advances, it's not quite ready for prime time.
Artificial intelligence (AI) meets the largest swatch of customer relationship management (CRM) users in the world.
If your Switch suffers from one or more dead pixels, Nintendo may not see it as a defect, but as a consumer you have rights.
Nokia and Huawei grabbed a lot of attention at Mobile World Congress, but neither will be a major player in the US any time soon. Here's why.
Using a humanoid robot connected to a cap that measures humans' brain waives, researchers have created a mind-reading robot.
Every drive will fail eventually; prevent massive data loss is by keeping backups via the True Image 2017 backup suite.
PlayStation VR has something for everyone to enjoy, so read on to learn what your options are before you head out to buy a headset.
Switch sales and how to fix your Joy-Con.
The models could help teams improve their play styles.
The Whoop Strap can be worn by players on the field.
