Best Web Site of the World

Forget Google. Forget Amazon. Forget eBay. Perhaps the most important web site ever put together on the internet is Brands of the World. Thousands of logos, in .eps format, available at your fingertips. Old versions, new versions. Color versions, black and white versions. All a download click away as long as you check the “agree” box. How many times has Brands of the World saved you from clients that keep sending you low resolution GIFs of logos to populate a sponsor-logo mural? Where else can you get logos to modify in subversive or comic ways other than Brands of the World? And all for free. I love Brands of the World.

Now owned by graphics.com — which touts Brands of the World’s “more than 160,000 vector format brands and logos” and its traffic of “over 2 million unique visitors and over 30 million page views per month” — this venerable site has a new logo that replaces the painfully clip-arted logo that we had grown accustomed to. The new logo isn’t really that great but, like any good evolution, it retains elements of its past (the globe) and executes it in a more contemporary way. The logo is vastly more readable and it doesn’t look as much as a logo for a piracy-bittorrent download site anymore. Here is to many more logo downloads!

Thanks to Dean Hudson for the tip.

John McCollum’s comment is:

Better by far, but I could do without the gradient.

On Jul.29.2009 at 07:09 AM

Jude Landry’s comment is:

Big improvement, though just about anything would be an improvement over that old monstrosity. The new globe still could use a bit more refinement, especially in the thickness of the white lines. The new typeface is a good choice, so overall, it’s a thumbs-up.

On Jul.29.2009 at 07:10 AM

Dale Campbell’s comment is:

I agree- better than the original (which isn’t that difficult to top).

But if you really think about it, given the content (amount of letters/words) of the logo, what else could they do besides a globe??

Interested to read what others think.

And yeah… lose that gradient!

Keep well,
Dale

On Jul.29.2009 at 07:48 AM

Koyo’s comment is:

A classic. The do a necesary rebranding. Good for BotW!

On Jul.29.2009 at 07:48 AM

Rodrok’s comment is:

great change, I find the globe a little dramatic and iconic, a little refinement and it would take the site to a new level.

I’m glad to see this site is moving on, I really like it but stop visiting it because it seemed abandoned.

wish the site had less ads, its a little overcrowded

On Jul.29.2009 at 08:02 AM

nathan mckinney’s comment is:

Something to note about this logo redesign. It wasn’t until I saw this new look to the logo that I had any idea that “brandsoftheworld” had anything to do with “adsoftheworld”. Ads of the world is like the poor man’s “Communication Arts.”

Two fantastic sites. When it comes to Ads of the world, I like that the gray scale logo doesn’t fight with the content. For Brands of the World, it’s just nice that it echos the other so you can tell they are related.

On Jul.29.2009 at 08:03 AM

ScottyM’s comment is:

Nice!

On Jul.29.2009 at 08:05 AM

Jonze’s comment is:

I always thought it was funny that they had such an awful logo!

On Jul.29.2009 at 08:10 AM

Lindsay’s comment is:

Don’t like the gradient, I’d say lose the Globe altogether. Cheapens the look too much. A needed change…

…and a new resource I never used before. Oh, to think of the time I put in tracing things with a pen tool, then I was shown live trace now this is even better.

On Jul.29.2009 at 08:16 AM

Chathura’s comment is:

Ads of the World has the same logo and web layout as Brands of world.

On Jul.29.2009 at 08:21 AM

Sand’s comment is:

What is that? Univers Condensed?

Kern Nazi says it reads “B RAN DS” :P

Otherwise, nice redesign :)

On Jul.29.2009 at 08:31 AM

Adam Haase’s comment is:

I’ve been on the Brands of the world website for about a month and the only thing that i noticed in the time from my first visit was the logo and the favicon didn’t match.

On Jul.29.2009 at 08:33 AM

Jacob’s comment is:

I never knew about that site. No more poaching logos from annual report PDFs for me!

In any case, the new logo, while unspectacular, is a vast improvement over the old one.

On Jul.29.2009 at 09:05 AM

LB’s comment is:

How did I not know about this site sooner? As for the logo, it’s an improvement. I think it’s easier to take seriously now. Like Armin said, it had a pirate/torrent edge to it.

On Jul.29.2009 at 09:15 AM

a guy named Patrick’s comment is:

Finally. Been wondering when that logo would change. The old logo made me feel like the site wasn’t legit and I was unlawfully downloading for the purpose of making the clients’ image look a little less blurry. Now I feel a little better.

On Jul.29.2009 at 09:28 AM

Steven Hoober’s comment is:

> How many times has Brands of the World saved you from clients that keep sending you low resolution GIFs of logos to populate a sponsor-logo mural?

All the damned time. Now, how many times have you made a logo, given it to everyone, then gotten a T-shirt with a bastardized version of the logotype made by some admin with random type, poor kerning and the wrong colors? It’s such a chore sometimes.

I always found it vaguely funny that they had an awful logo. This one is just good enough it’s no longer funny or ironic, but it’s not good enough to be good. I’d be happier with a totally trite swoop or something that reminds me of the several placeholder logos I use for mockups and as FPO. That’s the direction I’d have gone here.

[]BRANDs
of the world

On Jul.29.2009 at 09:48 AM

Bill Dawson (XK9)’s comment is:

Dig it.

On Jul.29.2009 at 09:50 AM

Mike Kelly’s comment is:

Yeah Steven, it’s totally funny. I love BOTW…but this particular logo for a site who’s M.O. is to provide a window to logos doesn’t communicate anything in the actual context those logos…I suppose the globe suggests it’s more about “THE WORLD” rather than its brands. : )

I think it would be awesome to design a logo about a site for logos…what a fun opportunity.
ok off to do it now.

On Jul.29.2009 at 10:10 AM

Matt C.’s comment is:

I have been using BotW for many years now and never understood why they had such a crappy logo. and why did you have to scroll down to search for a logo, that is why you’re here, that should be first thing at the top, or even click a million times before the download would start?

Now, most of that is solved. sure the logo is not going to be a prized winner or anything, but it is more modern and contemporary, and thank god, so is the website. a fair update to a much needed and very resourceful brand.

I have BotW bookmarked because it is a fantastic tool to have at your disposal, especially when you get those brilliant clients that send you gif’s and jpg’s like armin said. thanks alot BotW for saving me time and headaches…

On Jul.29.2009 at 10:12 AM

Luke S’s comment is:

I LOVE BotW! I nearly wet myself when i stumbled upon it a few years ago as a newly employed graphic designer dealing with TONS of low res. logos. Our company has a library of thousands of logos collected through-out the last 25 years from poor scans to blocky bitmaps. Upon discovering BotW I managed to update a good deal of our logos. This site saved my a$$ on more than one occasion (no to mention this blog Brand New).

::::As far as the old logo::::::
• Nice pencil thingie
• Nice use of the default brushes in Illustrator you genius ‘designer’!
• Red and Black: always a good choice

::::And as far as the new logo goes::::
• I like the monolithic styling, very indicative of the times we are living in.
• like the gradient. Perhaps you would have preferred bevel & emboss?

On Jul.29.2009 at 11:15 AM

Nate B’s comment is:

Type: good.
Globe: needs work.

On Jul.29.2009 at 11:46 AM

Mark’s comment is:

It looks pretty good, I like it!

The old one definitely had to go.

On Jul.29.2009 at 12:13 PM

ivan raszl’s comment is:

Hello everyone and thanks for the kind review of BotW. I’m the designer behind the logo and as someone mentioned it above it’s made to look similar to the Ads of the World logo, which we relaunched a few month ago. The original concept of the globe replacing the letter “o” and the typo around it was designed for AotW in 2005. Here is a chart:
http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/images/forum/diagram_by_ivan_raszl.png

On Jul.29.2009 at 12:21 PM

sra’s comment is:

Oh dear, am I the only one who liked that sketch-y globe? I’m glad the rest went, but I do wish they had kept the old globe instead of adding in the gradient one.

On Jul.29.2009 at 01:02 PM

Req’s comment is:

I’ve always loved BotW but the search has sometimes been less than helpful. Sometimes showing lots of irrelevance to my search term or lots of different versions of the same logo that I can never distinguish nor remember which was which. Some kind of thumbnail a la Google images or Logopond would be more helpful.

As for the logo, much better than before. The old one kind of got lost among all the adverts. I like the choice of colour, or lack thereof, it allows you to see other logos first and foremost.

On Jul.29.2009 at 01:07 PM

Violet’s comment is:

lol they changed this weeks ago, just now making it to Brand New? Maybe I should have said something sooner…

On Jul.29.2009 at 01:35 PM

Matt Barnes’s comment is:

This site saved my life back when I used to make newspaper ads for a living. Nice update to their own logo. Still not terrific, but it looks about as good as it needs to.

On Jul.29.2009 at 03:45 PM

dMullins’s comment is:

I have to use this site all the time it seems.

At least now I’ll have something that’s a lot easier to navigate. The UCD of it was a nice change. The logo, I could really care less for it, but as many have said, at least it looks somewhat better than what they had before.

On Jul.29.2009 at 04:25 PM

Thomas Breure’s comment is:

Nice restyle, i like it. The globe can be worked on as said earlier.
It’s also a great site if you ask me

On Jul.30.2009 at 04:28 AM

Soda & Candy’s comment is:

Love it. Light years ahead of the old one.

Also I love that site and it’s saved my ass on multiple occasions.

On Jul.30.2009 at 10:03 AM

olumi_day’s comment is:

I suppose ads of the world and brands of the world are owned by the same company.

On Jul.30.2009 at 11:16 AM

Glenn Sakamoto’s comment is:

Ugh.

On Jul.30.2009 at 12:06 PM

AAaron’s comment is:

Hideous.
If you like this, you need to change professions.

On Jul.31.2009 at 12:07 AM

accounting outsourcing services’s comment is:

Looks very nice…i like it vey much….
Regards,
accounting services

On Jul.31.2009 at 12:26 AM

Phillipine Emerson’s comment is:

I like the website, but seriously this logo is just terrible.

No redeeming qualities what-so-ever.

None.

On Jul.31.2009 at 09:54 AM

Mongoose’s comment is:

I rather do like it. Highly legible, good de-emphasis yet presence of the ‘of the’. A big improvement over the old one, which as mentioned, looked barely legitimate.. and what’s up with the dot over the pencil?

The new logo’s O-globe is rather ostentatious, but I like it: It really does convey the global feel well, and looks like a big, reputable, almost brash website now.. as opposed to the old cutesy feel. And yet, I keep wondering if it couldn’t use a smidgen of color- that all-grey runs a touch drab. But I suspect color versions can be made very easily from what’s there.

I give it an A- : Much improved, solid update that manages to be nicely bold and faintly drab at the same time.

—Mongoose

On Jul.31.2009 at 01:00 PM

Joseph Maguire’s comment is:

Well Clearly their part of a larger network http://adsoftheworld.com/ uses the same thing, its a nice lock up system that they use and fairly consistent across both sites.

On Jul.31.2009 at 02:36 PM

wht?’s comment is:

I love this website.
It is so incredibly useful.

I’ve had numerous clients give me crappy low rez jpgs of their logo & almost every time Ive found the vector file of it on this site.

I’ve even had clients who didn’t have a soft copy of their OWN logo.

It’s baffling.

On Jul.31.2009 at 08:34 PM

The People’s comment is:

Wow, that is one ugly type lock-up.

On Jul.31.2009 at 08:53 PM

John’s comment is:

Copyright infringement up the wazoo at that site. Hopefully will get shutdown soon.

On Jul.31.2009 at 11:47 PM

Brandy’s comment is:

Let’s trade one cliché doe another shall we?
How about this for a novel idea: As an industry recognized great resource for “logo” browsing/artwork, why not keep it simple, and, dare I say it “world-class” as opposed to flavor du trend du jour. I mean they have a pretty cheeky name already; just go with it. Stop fussing with it; it looks campy. And if campy is what they’re going for then let all hell brake loose; not this namby-pamby middle-ground.

On Aug.01.2009 at 06:16 AM

brandy’s comment is:

And, of course, The site itself is a fantastic resource! All the more reason to build it smarter, clean it up, and let the archives speak for themselves.

On Aug.01.2009 at 06:19 AM

Sendow AG’s comment is:

Horrible.

On Aug.01.2009 at 11:31 AM

andyRespire’s comment is:

Great redesign, but 5+ yrs too late. That old logo should be burned, with the ‘93 clip art floppy disk it came on.

I don’t understand why a site (or any business) with an image-savvy audience let their look & UI get so old. Minor upgrades along the way should have been started years ago.

Reminds me of MacRumors.com - leading Apple news site, but the design/UI is archaic & anorexic, while its readers view it on their new iPhone 3GS, wearing black turtlenecks, sipping lattes.

On Aug.02.2009 at 02:18 PM

andyRespire’s comment is:

Type: looks like DIN Condensed

On Aug.02.2009 at 02:23 PM

David’s comment is:

You’ve got to be kidding. This site is the worst idea for logos and their legitimate owners that I can think of. Why would any brand owner allow this to go on.

There are plenty of legitimate sites that allow you to download source vector art for logos/brands where brand owners actually have a say in who has access to source artwork.

While I’m impressed you have 160,000 logos - I can’t understand why you haven’t been shut down.

On Aug.02.2009 at 11:47 PM

tetra’s comment is:

@ John & David —
Please enlighten people with alternative resources before criticizing. This site has been an absolute lifesaver for those of us who have little to no time to research alternatives that choose “who has access to the source artwork”.

On Aug.03.2009 at 04:50 PM

Kyl3’s comment is:

^ +1

On Aug.04.2009 at 10:09 AM

GusBencomo’s comment is:

Hola, Bryony.

Hay un muy reconocido diseñador en Venezuela que participó en el concurso para este nuevo logo. El dice que que la versión ganadora es muy parecida a una de las varias que el propuso, pero no lo reconocieron. Si te interesa ponerle polemica a este artículo, avísame y te pongo en contaco con el.

Saludos desde Caracas

On Aug.04.2009 at 10:09 PM

Gabo’s comment is:

http://adsoftheworld.com/

On Aug.06.2009 at 02:13 PM

charlie’s comment is:

BOTW rocks!

On Aug.06.2009 at 03:32 PM

jen’s comment is:

good site, logo went from bad to not quite as bad.

On Aug.07.2009 at 11:59 AM

Patrick’s comment is:

I like the new logo better, however I got used to seeing that old out-of-date hardly understandable logo, I kind of miss the old one. It was like a security blanket, old and worn but you always knew it would never let you down. Guess I need to get used to the new one.

On Aug.31.2009 at 09:24 PM

pekas’s comment is:

It is stupid new logo… Why they put ‘globe sign’ in a logo? It’s not recognizable at all. Wanna see good example take a look at ‘Animal planet new logo’.
I would go with typo only. Would be much better, clean, clear message and more recognizable as a “Brands of the World” logo.

peace
Pekas

On Sep.02.2009 at 06:37 PM

Tony’s comment is:

Definitely an indispensable resource!

On Oct.13.2009 at 02:07 PM

WZ3F’s comment is:

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World??

On Jan.01.2010 at 11:27 AM

Delpha Rines’s comment is:

Exhibiting some really like to this issue “new to this wordpress”. I defiantly agree with in addition , it. Should you definitely think of it than everything causes alot of sense

On Jun.08.2010 at 08:37 PM