The Office of Government and Commerce needed a new logo, and they hired a design firm to develop one for £14,000. The conversations between the design company and their client may have gone something like this:

Designer: Okay, so here are some ideas we came up with.

Client: I don’t like any of them. The lines are too thick. I want something lighter, more friendly and less bureaucratic.

Second meeting.

Designer: Here are some variations that use thinner lines.

Client: Nope, these are all still ugly. Give me something with more circles. Less angular.

Third meeting.

Designer: We came up with some variations on your circle idea.

Client: No, we can’t use these. They have colour in them. A coloured logo would make our letterhead much more expensive.

And so on. Finally, the design team comes up with something the client approves of. Now it’s time to order the mousepads and unveil the logo.

Oops.

A friend of mine remarked, “This is why every advertising agency needs to have a review panel of twelve-year-old boys.”