the logo reminds me of herb lubalin's avantgarde gone 80's petrol company (seems like that blue bar is attacking the E)

and all in all it looks crap

but what does the company do? are they good and honest at it, is the customers happy, how do they influence our culture and our ecosystem .. do they really deserve to look "good" ?

i'm asking caus im european and i don't know the brand. and i feel that you (we) often give aestetic facelifts to hideous companies.. like giving facelifts and boob-jobs to bad actresses so they can keep getting away with making crap movies for us..

shouldnt we evaluate wether the companies deserve to look good ?

a nice, simple fast forward to the 21st century could be beneficial for them.

But how would their competition, Century 21 feel about that?

Hey! How 'bout that? Didn't even think about the potential pun... damn it, I need more morning caffeine.

It's Real Estate. Nothing about the real estate industry is elegant, usable, or really worth redoing visually ;o)

Have any of you attempted to deal with the MLS database? 'nuff said.

>Nothing about the real estate industry is elegant, usable, or really worth redoing visually

I know you put your smiley face Darrel, so that would mean you are being sarcastic, but still, it's our job and responsibilty to make them look elegant if they wanted to be so.

>are they good and honest at it, is the customers happy, how do they influence our culture and our ecosystem .. do they really deserve to look "good" ?

Again, whether they "deserve" it or not is another issue, they still have the "right" to look good. And c'mon! It's real estate not a frickin kiddie porn video house. Of course they deserve to look good.

>like giving facelifts and boob-jobs to bad actresses so they can keep getting away with making crap movies for us..

But we still watch them. Same with a brand, if it looks better it might mean that it is gooder. On the surface.

Having just bought a house (well, as of tomorrow), I'm overly familiar with the real estate logos. None of them are visually interesting. Weichert, our realtor, is very into their yellow color. To its credit, I guess, is that it is simple: yellow and Helvetica.

I would guess that the most important visual application for these companies is the road sign they plop in front of their houses for sale. The Weichert yellow sign is hard to miss.

Didn't Chermayeff and Geismar redesign ERA? It's the only logo that seems to have had some skilled hands involved.

Can't think about the brand picture now...had too little sleep. Will try again later.

My personal favorite

> like giving facelifts and boob-jobs to bad actresses

Huh? What? Did someone just say 'boob'?...I'm on.

> Century 21

I remember liking the house in their logo since I was a kid. Thought it was rather brilliant. The type though, has much to be desired.

They're probably the first and only Realty company to truly brand themselves -- remember the yellow Century 21 jackets that they all had to wear? I think the men agents had Century 21 ties, and women got scarves also.

Gotta give them credit for that.

But yes, nowadays, they all suck.

Maybe one reason is a need for Realtors to look competent, yet frugal and efficient. But I know that's no excuse -- a bad logo is still just a bad logo.

Darrel's right. When I was searching for our house, I didn't give a shit which Realtor I was searching under. The only thing that mattered was the house I was looking for. Funny, I don't even remember which one we bought our house from. Our agent handled all of that -- we just chose the house.

Why I hate Rik and Vik, our local realators

1. All caps, italic, AND script in one incredible logo.

2. They dress to match their logo.

3. Their names match down to the spelling.

4. Their yippy little lap dog made it into the logo

5. I have to drive under the 50 ft billboard version of this daily.

6. Remindes me of American Beauty in a very creepy way.

Ick, Rik, I'm sick Vik!

hahahahaha! that is so fucked up... in so many ways... hahaahaha ahaa .

If you ask me, ReMax needs a new name. Despite seeing their ads and ubiquitous ugly signs throughout my childhood, I thought they were a utility company until I was like 20 years old.

ding, ding, ding...and griff is the winner!

Rik and Vik -- man that is some funny crap!! hahahaha

I just love that every real estate agent has to put their portrait on their business cards -- as if you cared. And they're all the bad Sears portrait variety.

Realtors make for the worst clients, and I can't understand why. These are people who are supposedly all about image, but they'd prefer to print all their marketing material on their inkjet and go nuts with the clip art. What IS that?

I hate the way the M and the A in the MAX slant in different directions. It looks rickety abd unstable. Who wants to buy a house from a real estate company with a rickety unstable logo?

I agree with rebecca on the new name. I didn't even recognize Re/Max as a real estate company until I saw the picture of the red, white, and blue sign with the hot air balloon, and then the light went on, and I said to myself, 'Oh, they're the red, white and blue balloon sign people with the hot air balloon."

Maybe they should change their logo to a patriotic hot air balloon. That will sell a lot of houses.

unfortunately i am one of the lucky ones who has to work with these egomaniacs...mug shots bigger than the property..etc...best part is... if you can convince them that a $15 million house (such as greg norman's house i just did) deserves to look like that on a brochure...say bye bye to the paper plates and hello to dishwasher safe dixie...these guys make so much money..now i know why..they shaft the designer

I just love that every real estate agent has to put their portrait on their business cards -- as if you cared.

I almost crashed driving home from work tonight. As I got off at my exit, a bright red Audi A6 caught my eye. I see that the rear door as one of those magnetized sheilds slapped on it.

As I looked closer, the sheild was for some real estate company. There was a photograph of a guy on it (deffinately a Sears portrait) and the fucker was driving the car!

I have always hated RE/MAX, and that opinion was sealed when I saw their national ad that showed them "training" babies to be real estate agents, including a shot of an infant on a cell phone. Why should they care about having an attractive logo when their business uglies up neighborhoods all over the country?

I'll go to my grave regretting how many Realtors� ("Make sure you use the Registered mark, DAMNIT!!!!") I've worked with. From all this, I've learned...

1. They're vain

2. They're VERY cheap

3. They're distrustful

4. Vengefully competitive

5. And, occasionally, have big hair.

Anyhow, the RE/MAX folk must have some sort of design manual. They manage to keep the ol' red, white and blue everpresent and the hot air balloon airworthy! Hot air.

A friend had to use ReMax as a case study for an advertising class in college, but it was more about the balloon than the realty business. As I remember, the man who owns ReMax was trying to fly around the world in his Superballoon and she had to promote it. I think its inclusion in the marketing materials is one of those things ReMax insisted on because it would make the Big Man happy, regardless of how it worked (or didn't) in the overall design concept.

>I think its inclusion in the marketing materials is one of those things ReMax insisted on because it would make the Big Man happy

That, I can believe. Glad nobody went into some metaphoric bullshit about how the balloon represents the values of RE/MAX, that would have gotten anybody banned from this site... not that I would do that, I'm just metaphorically speaking.

The balloon represents the rising cost of housing and its unattainability.

Just try to ban me Vit.

haahha...this is too funny.

I live in small town in Norway and Re/Max just opened an office here last year....instantly I gawked at the logo design. It looks sooooo cheap and horrible...however none of my friends paid much attention to my comments (obviously...why should they care...it must be a nerdy aspect of being a designer...that you always notice such things and get annoyed or pleased by them whilst other people couldnt care less) ...anyway....after i while i thought i was just being overly negative. Thank god its nice to know there are more people of similar opinion...ah :)

Would like to know who designed that logo?

>Just try to ban me Vit.

You know, doing that is actually possible? I can take your IP address and ban you... forever, until you burn in design hell. I've thought about banning that John guy who is always lurking (and provoking) around the UPS discussion, but it's so fun to read his antics I would never have the heart.

Just so ya'll know...

>Would like to know who designed that logo?

I have no clue, anybody?

>Would like to know who designed that logo?

probably some marketing guy...hehe (looks like it anwyay)

The problem with Realtors is that they're all independent, self-employed yahoos working loosely under the broad umbrella of some larger entity (like Re/Max).

The lesson here is that the VAST majority of individuals, left up to their own devices (MS Publisher, WordArt, etc) could give a hoot about design and want to proliferate their own portraits and favorite fonts (Comic Sans) about the universe.

It's all somewhat depressing. How do we get them out of the cave?

i think what it really proves is that graphic designers such as yourselves don't make enough money because you sit around worrying about which font you're going to do your grocery list on - so you lash out at the people who pay your bills!

>so you lash out at the people who pay your bills!

Realtors pay our bills?

>you sit around worrying about which font you're going to do your grocery list on

Bodoni. I wouldn't have it any other way.

What a snotty, yuppie little grocery list there Armin. No cervézas, no cabritos, no chicarones.

In my defense... oh crap, there is nothing to defend. I do buy my chicharron at the little store around the corner.

I’m probably getting into this conversation too late to be of any use but you’re all misreading the logo. It’s not RE/MAX. It's RF/MAX. They promise an RF and they deliver. What could be more honest?

Hi Guys

I'm a remax agent; actually I went to Art School as a photographer. I had to leave photography after 15 years because designers use royalty free photographs usually owned by Micro Soft. Thanks guys.

In some ways I think it is poetic justice that I am now making an OK living under a pretty ugly corporate logo. (And yes there is a remax manual saying you have to use certain things).

I also find in humorous that designer are talking about over blown egos� Think about guys.

Anyhow, the design world is taking on the chin too. It used to be everyone was a photographer now everyone is a designer.

What that has left us with really bad photograph integrated with really bad design. We have all eaten our young and are now complaining of the bitter taste.

So photography is limited to wigets and the people who make them taken by secretaries. And leaflets created on MS publisher.

I have no answers, I wish I did, PT Barnum was right, and there isn’t much we can do about it.

Sorry gotta run, I am meeting my new listing in 15min. 1.1 million on a cape in MA.

Bruce L :-|

I have no answers, I wish I did, PT Barnum was right, and there isn’t much we can do about it. so your one answer is "a sucker is born every minute?"

take it easy Bruce. i wanted to be a photographer too, and my mom's been a realtor for years. moaning about other professions is all in good fun, the way everyone hates going to the dentist, or the way programmers are personified as being nerds. my cousin's wife sells computer software, and she's also a model. betcha didn't see that one coming.

we all have things to live up to in our professions. realtors have a list of percieved personality criteria, and so do we - we being the pretensious, black wearing, eliteist, type-conscious, waste of macintosh using mongrels that we are.

ultimately, we all come from the same group of assholes. it's nice that you have a potential commission to show off, but i hope you don't begrudge me for shuddering at bad typography you may or may not use to sell it. realtors can choose to use comic sans or bodoni, whatever. being aware of it can make you look better, even in the unfortunate circumstance of only having MS Publisher.

My solution: get rid of the backslash in the logo and slant the letters towards the middle, letters at left slant right,letters at right slant left. Color "RE" in red, color "MAX" in blue

BTW I've heard someone mentioning about using the balloon for the logo well REmax uses the balloon for their signs already

Just a quick note to the European. Re/Max has offices all over the world. Including Italy and Germany in Europe. So, they are in fact a global brand.

It's a real estate brand - most of the larger established brands in the marketplace I work in are really living in the past.

Since the real estate boom in the Sydney (Australia) market died, the real estate brands are looking everywhere for someone to blame - but the fact is that the marketing departments think that the best way to update their image is to put '.com' on the end of their logos, or somewhere on their artwork.

[and yes, I've had to do it more than once - after being told that they wanted their look 'updated', but the layouts, fonts, logos and colours had to stay the same.]

RE/MAX's logo is familiar but its Hideous!

ITS redo time for Remax's logo!

Heres whats wrong with Re/Max's logo:

1.The blue slash cuts into the "E"

2.The "Max" doesn't match with "Re"

3.The "X" doesn't slant with "M" and "A"

4.The entire logo doesn't slant altogether or stay streight together

5.The "X" seems to be stuck to the "A"

6.The logo seems stuck in the 1980s

How about this for Remax's new logo? (the one at left)

Or this!

Or perhaps this!

At least Coldwell Banker doesn't have an ugly logo!

Prudential's logo looks nice not all realtor logos are bad.

Gmac's is nice and simple

Heres a bunch more ( everything but the Remax logo looks good)

More Real Estate logos

http://www.sanzospecialties.com/images/etc/national%20logos%20-%20add.jpg

You want to see a BAD real estate logo?

try this!

How about this for bad!

Any questions?

More real estate logos

More real estate logos

Well, the coldwell banker logo is terribly 1960's. But then, so are the rest of the logos in the same marketplace.