Parody website launched after Alberta’s energy war room runs into logo issues

A Vancouver-based graphic design company has launched a parody website, poking fun at recent logo issues that Alberta’s energy war room has run into.

Goat Creative launched the Energy War Room Logo Generator, after problems with the Canadian Energy Centre’s logo began making the rounds on social media.

The parody generator picks a logo at random — most from already recognizable companies like Honda, Disney, Shell, Twitter and John Deere — and offers a tongue-in-cheek explanation for each.

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“Most people have been pretty positive about it,” said Terence Sawtell, the founder of Goat Creative. “It’s kind of a laugh. I don’t think it really mattered what way you leaned politically.”

Sawtell said he and his team put together the parody site as a quick project before the Christmas holidays after concerns about the CEC logo began circulating online.

The CEC initially changed its logo after its first design was found to be identical to one being used by a U.S. software company.

At the time, the CEC said its logo was created by Calgary-based marketing agency Lead & Anchor. CEO Tom Olsen said the CEC was “making the necessary corrections to our visual identity.”

However, once the company’s new logo was launched, some noticed the new symbol also had a resemblance to another company’s logo.

Wallace Lynch, the CEO of AIK Technologies Inc., confirmed to Global News on Monday that concerns around the current CEC logo and its similarities to his company’s logo had been passed on to AIK’s legal team.

Sawtell said that the parody site is meant to highlight the importance of hiring a diligent graphic design team.

“The thing about design and logos, especially an icon… it is tough,” he said. “You definitely have to do a lot of research.

“It wasn’t really a political thing,” he added. “It was more of — this is typical in our world in design.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It wasn't really a political thing," he added. "It was more of — this is typical in our world in design.

The CEC did not respond to interview requests from Global News on Monday.