Logo Libraries - To Use or Not to Use

I work for a marketing agency and one of our freelance designers came up with a new logo for a client. We didn’t realize it at the time, but the logo seems to have come from a logo library. As it happens a business in the same industry several towns over was using the same logo albeit without some of the added elements that the freelance designer incorporated. Is it standard practice for designers to use logo libraries for designs? Any insight you can provide is appreciated.

Is it standard practice for a seasoned professional? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, it is modus operandi for hacks, non-designers or those without the skills and knowhow to know or do any better.

Hi Steve_O,

Thank you for your reply. We want to put a policy in place with the designers about not using logo libraries. Have you encountered that specification before? What do you think about a policy like that?

ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY NOT!

I have no idea how you managed to hire this phony or how much you paid for it, but somehow you got hoodwinked by an unethical wannabe who deserves to have his or her butt hauled into court.

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I have not. Then again, I rarely deal with marketing companies or agencies. The vast majority of my work is done directly with the end client.

I get it. Once burned, twice shy. The rub in this is that it’s your company’s name and reputation that is associated with this job – not the “designer” that you hired.

Wow!

It’s probably a bit of over-optimistic faith in human nature on my part, but I am still shocked when I hear about instances such as this. You always think that those practices are used by amateurs, not serious designers taking people’s money for professional services. Gives the rest of us a bad reputation.

You could put in your contract a requirement for designers to only supply original and unique work. I remember seeing something like that in a contract once. I will see if I can dig it out at some point and I’ll post the clause here if I find it.

Most of those “logo libraries” have terms in their EULA that state their stock imagery cannot be used for corporate logos. They say that because the artwork cannot be Trademarked.
Way too much fraud going on in this field.
Sue them.

Thank you!