Are you Skild? New Logo for Competition Software Platform

Skild (brand) + "Intelligent Competitions" (tagline)

ABOUT US:
Idea Crossing (http://www.ideacrossing.com) was formed in '02 to enhance the experience of operating and participating in "skill-based competitions" (as opposed to “chance-to-win competitions” such as games, sweepstakes, contests, etc). Idea Crossing’s goal is to empower producers of skill-based competitions with an affordable set of tools and resources required to run effective award programs, promotional challenges, and incentive prize campaigns. The human drive to compete is part of our DNA, and the practice of recognizing excellence and spurring achievement through competition is a time honored tradition. Idea Crossing is moving that tradition into the 21st century.

To achieve this goal, we are launching a new software company under the trademark “Skild” with the tagline “intelligent competitions.” Skild is an interactive software company that provides a full suite of administrative features for producers of skill-based competitions coupled with dynamic competition interfaces for contestants and judges.

HOW DID WE COME UP WITH THE NAME?
Simple, look at the etymology of the word skill:
c.1175, "power of discernment," from O.N. skil "distinction, discernment," related to skilja (v.) "distinguish, separate." Sense of "ability, cleverness" first recorded c.1300.

HOW DID WE COME UP WITH THE TAGLINE?
Simple: both the software and type of competition are "intelligent."

OUR TARGET AUDIENCE IS:
Producers or administrators of skill-based competitions. This universe can be broken out into two main behavioral segments: “Knowledge-Seekers” and “Promoters.” Knowledge-seekers include organizations looking to educate, train, gain consumer insights, encourage customer loyalty / employee retention, or solve a problem / find a solution. Promoters on the other hand are interested in marketing their product or service, enhancing their brand or image, building awareness, recruiting talent, or recognizing for achievements / excellence. Skill-based competition producers may work directly for the sponsoring organization, or they may be a third-party “agency” such as an event management company or an ad / PR firm that manages campaigns and programs for their list of clients.

HERE ARE A FEW OF OUR CUSTOMERS:
• Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) – the Zayed Future Energy Prize (http://www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com)
• Hope Lab – Ruckus Nation (http://www.ruckusnation.com)
• Red Hat – the Red Hat Challenge (http://www.redhatchallenge.com)
• University of Virginia (Darden School of Business) – Innovation Challenge (http://www.innovationchallenge.com/…enter.html)

HERE IS WHAT WE NEED:
We need a logo design that will be the basis of our branding, corporate identity and marketing standards.

WE LIKE THESE DESIGNS:
Excluding the obvious / notable brands (i.e. apple), here are a few companies with clean logo designs and memorable identities:
• Mint
• SlideRocket
• SpatialKey
• Factual

OUR DESIGN MUST HAVE:
We are open to all creative executions and want to give you the greatest amount of creative freedom, but please keep the following in mind:
• Skild is a “SaaS” company built using the latest Rich Internet Application frameworks. We seek to go BEYOND Web 2.0 in our branding. We seek to give life to skill-based competitions, to bring the American Idol experience online. From this perspective, we need the Skild logo to be more unique and progressive than the Web 2.0 logos of yesteryear.
• In general, we like how the aforementioned companies have integrated their logo with the company name. This logo / brand lockup design or style is appealing to us.
• Idea Crossing’s colors are PMS 10C Cool Gray and PMS 144C Orange, and the corporate typeface is Avenir. Keeping to Idea Crossing’s color palette and typeface is NOT a requirement.
• Our culture / visual vocabulary is open, innovative, rich, powerful, flexible, efficient and dependable. Playing off the word skill, we are also distinct / distinguishable, precise, discerning, clever and able.