A logo is an important part of a company's identity. It's what gets seen first by prospective customers, and can make a bigger impression than the company's actual product, at least initially. It's a lot like a suit and tie worn to a job interview -- it has precisely zero effect on the actual quality of work being presented, but it carries a lot of importance none the less. It says that the company is willing to go that extra mile to impress the people who may or may not throw their precious money its way.
There are, however, some cases where a logo can very much be an indicator of a company's potential quality of work. Design agencies and the like create graphics and logo for a living; if we're carrying on the suit-and-tie analogy, its a bit like a tailor showing up for an interview in something they made themselves. That better be the best suit any human being has ever laid eyes on, a suit capable of bringing Giorgio Armani himself weep from sheer joy.
Of course, there's always at least one person who shows up in (metaphorically) muddy sneakers, faded jeans with the knees missing and a few suspicious stains, and a discolored T-shirt reading "Beer Pong Champion".
The logo for AmiGraphics might not be QUITE that bad, but it sure comes close. Regardless of what the actual skill of the designers they employ might be, my strongest impression here is of me, in middleschool, getting a hold of Corel Printmaker for the first time and churning out brochures and cards full of clipart and rainbow colored text, thinking I was hot shit the whole time. Aside from the amateurish text (arcing text can work, but this, to me, just looks like they were trying to trick people into thinking this was some kind of action movie from the seventies or eighties), this is way too busy to be an effective mark. Action-movie text, the splash of paint, the CMYK crosshair, more text, and on top of all that, the Jesus-fish? That last one might not be so bad, if this were some kind of company marketing itself to churches, but the only website I could find seems to indicate otherwise. Said website also appears to be unfinished, which you just KNOW is going to fill prospective customers with confidence. Though they at least seem to have abandoned the paint-splash logo in the time since it was uploaded to BrandsOfTheWorld.com.
The actual logo, ignoring the text beneath it, actually doesn't reduce too badly -- possibly a blessing in disguise, given that enlarging it just calls more attention to the random elements they felt the need to include. It's relatively well-contained, even with the crosshair floating off to the right, and there's nothing that gives an immediately negative connotation. On the downside, this probably isn't something that's going to stick in anyone's mind, except maybe as an example of what not to do. It's not terribly original, and it's not something that immediately says "Design Studio" -Christian painting studio and paintball arena, maybe- and were it ever converted to black and white, it would fall apart almost entirely. Send it to the drycleaners, and it might stand a chance. Better yet, toss it out and go get a whole new outfit -- I don't think Goodwill is going to take this one.
Then there's the interviewee that shows up in a shirt and tie, maybe a sport coat, or at least a nice pair of khakis and a decent sweater. Even reproduced in flat colors, this logo holds up fairly well. Though the symbol alone is not immediately indicative of design (it could be used for a lot of companies, I think) it does seem to indicate some level of professionalism and, however cheesy, a sense of moving up and forward. The typography is still fairly simplistic, but at least it doesn't appear to be trying to con people into expecting Harrison Ford dodging natives and cracking a whip -- it's easy to read, even at smaller sizes, and the removal of the "e" in "designs" gives just a little indication that they just might specialize in signage.
This would probably lose a little if converted to black and white, though not much, particularly with the use of greyscale. Unlike AmiGraphic's action-packed kid's show logo, it's easy to see on letterheads, websites, and other advertisements, and the arrow-G symbol is probably going to be more memorable than a splash of paint. It's compact, containing itself well, and is likely to be understood by anyone with a decent command of English.
It might not be Armani, but nor is it going to result in an interviewer smiling, nodding, and then tearing the interviewee's resume in two as soon as he's alone.
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