Logos Save Lives

Here's a fun game. A friend sent this to me yesterday, along with a challenge to guess, based solely on that bipmap repro, what product/service/company is being represented:
"Skateboard sold at CVS for $9.99 in 1993?" I replid. "The second best-selling pineapple malt liquor in Four Corners dollar stores? Non-sanctioned women's roller derby squad?"

Sadly, by virtue of being for girls, my roller derby theory was closest, as the logo above belongs to Zonta International, a "global organization of executives and professionals working together to advance the status of women worldwide through service and advocacy," an admirable and worthwhile endeavor if I've ever heard one, but one that isn't being served by what often amounts to the public's first impression of the organization.

No one is saying that because Zonta caters to the XX set that their logo needs to be all pink cupcakes and pegasi. And maybe in the grand scheme of battling poverty, illiteracy, AIDS, genital mutilation, and human trafficking, a really slick logo is kind of superfluous. Then again, the perfect logo could be the cornerstone of an overall rebranding, one that helps to elevate the public's awareness and perception of a given organization, which in turn brings in more donations, which allows for more aid programs, which affects greater change until all the world's problems are solved forever.

Hey, it could happen.

I read an article on Designer Observer recently about the many ways design can thrive during a recession. One of those ways was the phenomenon of out-of-work designers with nothing to do but monitor the tanking of their retirement accounts turning their attention to the non-profit sector and throwing a few altruistic hours the way of an organization that needs but maybe can't budget for a revamped website, some polishing to their newsletters, or even, you know, a new logo. (Just not this one. This one is spoken for. Find your own selfless act.)