Recently, a small logo project came to me. Right away I knew the resulting concept would fare well if a team of designers was on the project. Only one small problem. The first meeting would have blown the entire budget. So, rather than tackle the problem on my own, I opted to engage an entire community of designers. Which is fairly easy to do these days. However, the easy part stops once the work begins. Crowd-sourcing a logo may sound like an easy task. On the contrary. There’s nothing easy about it. First, you must provide a set of clear instructions to a group of total strangers knowing you’ll never meet them face-to-face, never talk to them on the phone and never exchange e-mails.

A couple of recent trips to Panama City Beach, FL got me thinking about a quote I once heard, “If you are bologna, don’t try to be steak, just be the best damn bologna anyone has ever had.”

During my stays I noticed an invisible line while driving down “the strip” that seemed to divide the beach in half. One side was very familiar and reminded me of the PCB of my youth. On every corner was an airbrush t-shirt shop, Hawaiian shaved ice stand, scooter rental store, putt putt golf and Alvin Islands souvenir shop. As I drove beyond that imaginary line I noticed these shops were soon replaced by massive developments, new shopping centers and chain restaurants.