Chowhound needs a graphic logo -- bring back the dog!

[Gary Soup]

In searching for the Chowhound dog to illustrate a plug for chowhound on my blog, I discovered that neither the dog nor any other graphic identity (other than word "Chowhound" in an odd typeface) could be found on the site. I had to fish one out of the Internet Archive. I, for one, think CH should bring back (or update) the beloved logo. Let's put the hound back in Chowhound!

http://eatingchinese.blogspot.com/

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://w...

FWIW, you'll find some Chowhound nostalgia on the second link...

[Melanie Wong]

Here's my first upload of a graphic --- the old logo in case you want to use it as your avatar.

[HillJ]

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/362276

According to this Chowhound Team thread they are looking into graphics the entire community can use. Read on..

[saucy_girl]

I agree that a cool dog-icon would be great, however that dog from the archives doesn't give me a good feeling. It looks more like a random jigsaw-puzzle piece that's about to bite your fingers. Trust me, I'm a HUGE dog fan (my dog has her own website...). I'm a huge fan of chowhound.com, and would love to see an icon that's equally wonderful.

[berkleybabe]

Gary,
Yeah, me too! I've got my old Chowhound pin next to my phone. I loved that hound and that it very expressive of the Chowhound vibe... I miss it, too and think it's a great brand.

Sorry, others who hate it!

[brekkie_fan]

sorry Gary, he's an ugly pooch. there's gotta be one we can kinda agree on...

[Chris VR]

I liked the dog but it's unlikely you'll see it again. I just went through a rebranding exercise with a professional branding company and they weren't encouraging a logo, just a stylized treatment of the company name. Our engineers are pretty pissy because they have the logo all over the place and now there's nothing to put where the logo was. So this seems to be the way of the world- well, the marketing world...

[Gary Soup]

Are they going to "rebrand" Jim Leff's dog mask into oblivion too?

[Chris VR]

No clue - the exercise I went through had nothing to do with Chowhound, but if what the professional branding people were tellng me is true, the trend is definitely to move away from icons. Maybe Jim will now appear with a "smiley face" mask instead of the pooch ;-) ;-) ;-)

[LindaWhit]

Yes, the marketing types seem to discourage logos - did that with my current company as well. Just, as you said, stylized company name. I don't like it. And how much you wanna bet that in 10 years, the marketing/branding companies will be encouraging logos again? :-/

[nsxtasy]

If you want to see the dog right away, use this link:
http://web.archive.org/web/2001120102...

I like the idea of using a logo with a dog. I don't particularly like THAT dog, either.

[Gary Soup]

Am I the only one that likes that dog? I think the rectilinear design and pixel-like square snout are appropriate signifiers of the digital culture in which Chowhound.com exists.

[oldhound]

You are not alone. I was very pleased to see him again in the archives. Always thought he was a cool hound.

[jen kalb]

I like the insanely avid look of the dog.
Its a little bit embarrassing and "hot" though.
I get the feeling we are maybe to cool to brand under the new regime.

[LindaWhit]

I always liked the Chowhound Dog.

[Scagnetti]

Those are the exact reasons I loved the dog too!

[JudiMorrison]

I like the dog, too! I've been looking all morning for a Chowhound graphic to put on my computer and couldn't find one. So glad you posted this one. I had never seen it before because I'm new to Chowhound. Thanks for ending my morning long search. LOL What's not to love about ANY dog? :)

[Athena]

I always hated that dog too.

[Gary Soup]

Beauty is as beauty does... But I did say "...or UPDATE" the logo. My point was that CH needed a graphic identity, something simple enough to create a favicon.ico from.

[blue room]

Oh I followed your link to see the dog, I love ALL dogs, but oh dear, not that dog! Some people are so clever with art, a doggie logo would be nice.

[ChowFun_derek]

yes..a new dog for a new year!!!
Bring back A hound!!!

[Peter Cuce]

I always hated that dog.