Looking for the Bank Islam logo?

Picture_1 If you’re using corporate logos for presentations, blog posts, internal meeting examples or just because you enjoy studying logo design — you are in luck.

Even if you want something as obscure as the Bank Islam logo. 

Check out www.allfreelogo.com.  They call themselves a vector logo database.  I call them a treasure trove of visuals for a host of uses. 

You can download logo files that range from the Chicago Cubs, Tommy Hilfiger to Air France.
You can also upload your logo to the database.  While you’re there, check out their archive of articles about logo design.

They do require a free registration to access the database.  (FYI: Most of the logos are EPS files, but some of them are ai files)

11 comments on “Looking for the Bank Islam logo?

  1. Bank Islam? Really? I had no idea. I had just transfered cash from Bank Jewish to Bank Buddhist to take advantage of the “Orange Wrap Premium”. I was going to give to a friend for Kwanzaa. I’m confused…

  2. Janet Green says:

    Call me overly cautious, and call me Devil’s Advocate, but this seems like a huge opportunity for logo abuse. Organizations spend lots of money protecting their identity and brand, and then they just put their logo out there for all to use however they wish? I’m surprised companies would do this, given that Northwest Airlines once sent me a 17-page document on proper usage of their logo. And another thing 🙂 Maybe it’s just me, but I consider EPS and AI files to be “professional grade” file formats – quite different from simply snagging a jpg off someone’s website to illustrate a blog post. If you are working on a project of sufficient caliber that you need an EPS file, wouldn’t you most likely be needing to contact the company to let them know what you’re working on, rather than just anonymously downloading their logo from a free site? ~ Janet

  3. Amanda says:

    Janet, I agree. I understand that your “brand is not your logo,” but it’s an important part of your identity. I feel kind of dirty being able to access these logos without permission, especially since I would get in a tizzy if someone used ours without permission. I wonder how this fits into the whole intellectual property and internet copyright debates.

  4. I can see the great utility of this site. As a designer, I always like to “see how they did it.” But it does raise some concern as well…

    Of course, the site owners have covered their liability issues with their policies page (http://www.allfreelogo.com/privacy-policy/) but I have to agree with Janet and Amanda…

    Here’s my wallet. Feel free to look inside. But please don’t take anything…

    Thanks for the link, Drew. Again, you inspire great conversation.

    Keep Cooking!
    Andrew

  5. Michael,

    LOL! I know….you learn something new every day! But I hear they have a rewards VISA….

    Drew

  6. Janet, Amanda & Andrew —

    I sort of see your point, although I’m not so sure it’s any greater risk than having your logo on your site. When given the right file — why would someone take the time or choose to modify it? And yes, I am the king of brand consistency and protecting that brand.

    So let’s turn the tables. Why would a company choose to upload their logo onto this site? What would be the advantage or how do they, in their own mind, mitigate the risk?

    Love the discussion…looking forward to hearing more.

    Drew

  7. don’t know if you’ve ever heard of brandsoftheworld.com. as a former designer, i thought this was a godsend. tons of vector based logos for tons and tons of brands.

  8. Kathryn,

    No, I hadn’t heard of it before. Another great resource. As a designer — what’s your thought on the concerns some of the readers expressed?

    Drew

  9. I think it is impossible to contain your brands design elements, when there are people like me who would recreate a logo if I couldn’t find one. But, as part of a responsible marketing department, I would never use a logo without permission, because it is just bad business etiquette to do so. It may have jeopardized a client relationship.

    Mainly, I would use this vector database because the logos we got from a client (for a testimonial, case study, etc) was generally not of print quality, but the client contact was generally not a marketer or designer, and there was no point pestering them if they sent over a logo copied off their web page. And if they did have logo guidelines to follow, we would certainly follow them to the letter.

    Plus, these vector websites are also useful for internal purposes…for example, if I wanted a visual representation of a client market, and wanted to place the clients on an x/y scale to identify positioning, location, whatever, it was easier with a logo.

    I certainly understand the concerns of brand identity abuse, but I don’t think the matter is as black and white as saying don’t ever use x without consulting y.

  10. Banker says:

    Recently Bank Islam had to change their new logo (launched in Aug 2007) after a few months following complaints that many people read it as Ban Islam.

    The bank initially defended their logo rationale for a few months but in the end decided to change it by not using the stylised K. Their new logo is here: http://www.bankislam.com.my/Our_Logo_Rationale.aspx

    I wonder who designed, and more importantly who approved it for its major rebranding exercise last year. I wonder if the logo design agency was fired.

  11. Banker,

    Great update — thank you!

    When someone is embarking on a logo design project — they need to really check the logo in a variety of formats, sizes etc. to make sure that very thing does not happen.

    Unfortunately, I am sure the old agency got paid when the logo work was done and were long gone by the time the bank realized they needed to re-do the work.

    Hopefully they had enough integrity to fix it for free.

    Drew

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