Is IncSpring a brand supermarket?

Browsing the web I’ve discovered IncSpring - a site who claims to sell:

Full Brand Identity Packages – Logos, names, domains and more for sale by creatives around the world

It’s a creative description of a stock-agency for logos, domain names, and brand names. The prices are accessible (ok some are too high), the logos well drawn, the site nicely designed. So do I recommend it? Yes and no – there are a few hiccups:

• A brand is more than just a logo/name/domain combination, much more
• Most logos are just presented in the colour version (RGB!!), no negative or single color version
• You just get the logo, not a corporate design – and have no option to “upgrade”
• The names are obviously not personalized, you label yourself
• Some names sound nice, but you don’t know if they are already registered – and if I pay 500-2500$ for a logo and name I want to be sure that this name can be used in my country in my industry.

Recommended for a company? Probably not.

At first I would recommend it for very small firms who don’t need a full blown corporate design and just want to get a name and logo from the shelf. But when I think that this company probably is not aware about the brand registration regulations and may get in trouble.

A small to mid-sized company needs in my opinion more than just a logo/name/domain combination – and for 2500$ you can find a easily a local designer (or on the internet) who gives you a personalized service. This way the company gets a name which tells their story and they can endorse. At the end they have to live with it.

Recommended for graphic designers? Don’t know..

As an art director or graphic designer the opportunity to sell a free work is quite nice. I would want to know how many visitors has the site, the average selling price and the legal stuff – how about payments to designers outside of the USA. If you have lying around some logos and can come up with a nice name you can try to sell them here. But I would not (like specialized stock-photographer do) create content specially for this portal. I think this time could be better invested in getting direct clients. Getting direct clients will allow you to enter business through a logo design and continue working on the rest of their communication – long term relationship is the keyword here.

So you should decide for yourself it is worth trying. I will scan my libraries and give it maybe a shot – will keep you updated.

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