...So check this out. I designed this logo for a friend of mine who opened a bar a few years ago. It was a sports bar with a hot rod theme. I was on retainer with the place for a couple of years and handled all the graphic needs. It was a nice place, i was there all the time.


Well, eventually the other two business partners who were in the business with my friend, decided they wanted to go in a different direction. They wanted less emphasis on the bar (where all the customers always were, and where all the money was made) and put more emphasis on the restaurant part of the business. They basically wanted to try to make it more of an Applebee's type place, and less of an independent bar with personality. Long story short, my friend didnt want to go along with all that, so he sold his share of the business and got out.

After which the two remaining owners went about getting rid of everything related to my friend. Which was quite a task because basically he had built the place from the ground up, and they were only financial partners. You could say it was a less than pleasant split. I wasnt a fan of either of the other owners, but business is business and I was prepared to keep working for them on retainer. Turned out though, that as far as they were concerned, i was a direct reminder of my friend who had just got out of the business. So the business partnership between myself and the Pit was over. I havent been back since. But my boy just told me to check out the website yesterday, to see "what they have done to your logo". This is what i saw...



I was baffled. I didnt really even know what to think. Its pretty obvious that they liked the original logo, but felt as though they needed to make some changes to it, so that it was "their" logo, and not a remnant of the previous few years. I cant get over how bad it is though. Its seriously terrible. I dont see how they could think this is an improvement over the old version. I mean, sure im biased but cmon. Any goon can see that this one sucks. The only consolation is that the place is definitely goin under. Its been losing money ever since the buy out. And its only getting worse, according to my friend.

ps - What i find really funny is that they obviously wanted a "metal" look. Below is some signage i had made, that had BEEN hanging up in the place for quite some time. But seeing as how they broke off all contact with me and my boy, they couldnt exactly contact me and ask for the file. So they went forward with that crappy gradient look.



In all honesty, i probably would have emailed them the file if they had asked me. Seeing as how they own the rights to it. But oh well...