The logo I designed in 1995 has served us well over the years and I'm still happy with it. I've toyed with 10-15 other versions since I bought the shop four years ago but never really hit on anything I was completely happy with. In July I paid off the loan I took out to buy the shop...the plan was to use the rest of the year to come up with a new identity, a new direction, and a new business plan.
A guy I trained to work here many, many years ago left to go work for an internet based "logos by the pound" shop. He outgrew that and ended up in their corporate branding shop, something I look at as a small verion of Dan Antonelli's place. In the time he's been gone from here his talent level has increased dramatically and I love the style he's working in these days. He knows enough about me and about this place that I think we can work together on this project very well. Plus, it never hurts to have a fresher set of eyes look at you from the outside. They're much more likely to see what your customer base sees than you are.
I'm comfortable enough in my manhood to let them do what they do, I'm also loving the fact that we're doing this almost like a partnership deal. They're going to design to showcase the kind of work they want to do, I get to decide how to produce the finished product to showcase the kind of work I want to do.