IDW's Having Problems Again-Layoffs and New Bosses

[ZakuConvoy]

So, time for some good news and some bad news!

The "good" news is that IDW is getting a new logo! They're trying to rebrand. This shows they're putting in some effort! Good for them!

IDW Publishing drops new company logo — Major Spoilers — Comic Book Reviews, News, Previews, and Podcasts

As IDW Publishing begins its second 25 years, it has revealed a new logo for the company.

majorspoilers.com

The bad news is, this is the new logo:

...And everyone and their mother seems to HATE it.

IDW Debuts A Very Stupid New Logo For Their 26th Anniversary, At NYCC

IDW Debuts A Very Stupid New Logo For Their 26th Anniversary, At NYCC... I mean seriously, is that LD, ID or INW? Definitely not IDW...

bleedingcool.com

Comics Industry Tells IDW To Change Their Stupid New Logo

Consider this an intervention, for IDW Publishing over their new logo, announced yesterday to almost universal disdain.

bleedingcool.com

...Even the person who designed the new logo seems to be making fun of it.

Even IDW Logo Designer Nathan Widick Is Now Clowning On His Design

Even IDW Logo Designer Nathan Widick is now clowning on his own logo design, after the comic industry showed their issues with it.

bleedingcool.com

My two cents? Yeah...it's not great. It's a little over-designed. It's trying to be a little too clever. And it's not very "readable" just at a glance. it looks like it's "ID" not "IDW". It reminds me somewhat of the DC "page turn" logo from a few years back. Everyone hated that one, too.

I just have to wonder...how much money did IDW spend on this new logo? Because marketing teams don't come cheap. IDW's been having problems for a while now and THIS is what they choose to spend their money on? A new logo isn't going to fix their problems.

On the bright side...at least this got people talking about IDW again. Not in a good way, but, hey...free marketing! (Which they'll probably need after wasting all that money on a logo no one even likes...)

 

[wonko the sane?]

I keep reading it as "in W".

What's "W" and why are we in it?

 

[Superomegaprime]

I guess, the so called geniuses behind the new Logo will help them long term, my guess, unlikely and they should be focusing on making comics that people actually want to buy

 

[wonko the sane?]

I mean, it's the marketing paradox: you need to make a product that people will actually WANT continually... but you have to convince them to buy it first.

 

[Superomegaprime]

I mean, it's the marketing paradox: you need to make a product that people will actually WANT continually... but you have to convince them to buy it first.

That's true, but it seems a lot of companies are forgetting the very basics these days as they become complacement and arrogant!

 

[Confuzor]

I dont mind it. But think the W portion should be a different color.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

Well, that probably wouldn't work, because then MORE people would be reading it as "In W". The problem is that the D is doubling as part of the W. If you make any of it a different color it just makes it even harder to parse than before, I would think.

To make the obvious joke: The Idea for this Design just doesn't Work!

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I'm just surprised that they still have a logo designer after all the layoffs. Turns out they shouldn't.

 

[Dvandom]

Definitely not a W for them. (rimshot)

---Dave

 

[ZakuConvoy]

*SIGH* Well, reset the counter, they just lost another Editor. This time the Group Editor for Original Content.

IDW Original Group Editor Maggie Howell Jumps to Ignition Press

IDW Original Group Editor Maggie Howell jumps to Ignition Press before Christmas

bleedingcool.com

But, this does kind of make me worried for the state of their "IDW Dark" initiative. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence in your new initiative that's supposed to help save your company, if you lose one of the people helping make the books happen. But, we'll see how it goes. IDW just can't seem to keep anyone around for long.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

IDW has put up a online survey asking their fans what they want to see more of!

IDW Publishing Wants To Hear From You!

As we come into the new year, we want to take the time to get to know our readers, from the veterans who've been here from the beginning, to our newest additions to the IDW family! Everything we do is for our readers— so we want to hear from you. We would love it if you could answer these...

docs.google.com

You know what? It's something. They're trying. It's not much, but at least they are trying to improve and refocus their efforts.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

I keep reading it as "in W".

What's "W" and why are we in it?

Yeah, all they really needed was to “close off” the D and I think it would have been fine.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

*SIGH*

IDW Cancels Issues Of The Hunger & The Dusk, Switches To Graphic Novel

IDW cancels the remaining issues of The Hunger And The Dusk, by G Willow Wilson and Chris Wildgoose, will collect them in a graphic novel

bleedingcool.com

IDW had to cancel the last 3 issues of The Hunger and the Dusk, planning to release those issues in trade only. It's been pretty well received critically, though I'm not sure how well it's actually selling. I doubt this is because of problems on art team's side. This is probably due to IDW trying to cut costs.

Because IDW just released it's annual investor's report and...it's not looking good.

IDW Report: Diamond Bankruptcy Leaves "Substantial Doubt" For Future

The auditor section of IDW's annual report expresses "substantial doubt" about its "ability to continue as a going concern" in wake of Diamond Bankruptcy.

bleedingcool.com

You may have heard about Diamond Distributors going through bankruptcy. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean Diamond will close down for good. But, a lot of comic companies are jumping ship and going exclusive with other distributors. Because they really can't wait around for Diamond to get it's act together. This is causing ripple effects across the entire comic book community. Some of the other distributors don't want to deal with smaller, more independent comic producers.

Image Comics Says That No, They Are Not Talking To Diamond Comics

Image Comics says that no, they are not talking to Diamond Comics Distributors, no matter what Diamond says...

bleedingcool.com

Boom Jumps To Penguin Three Months Early, After Diamond Bankruptcy

Boom Studios jumps to Penguin Random House three months early after Diamond Comic Distributors chapter 11 bankruptcy.

bleedingcool.com

Antarctic Puts Creator-Owned Comics On Hiatus Over Diamond Bankruptcy

Antarctic Press puts a number of its creator-owned comics on hiatus over Diamond Comic Distributors' bankruptcy declaration.

bleedingcool.com

What Choice For Smaller Publishers, If Lunar & Penguin Aren't Options?

What choice for smaller publishers oif Diamond goes away, If Lunar Distribution and Penguin Random House aren't options?

bleedingcool.com

When Chuck Rozanski Met With The Department Of Justice About Diamond

When Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics met with the Department Of Justice about Diamond Comic Distributors having a monopoly

bleedingcool.com

diamond News, Rumors and Information - Bleeding Cool News Page 1

News and analysis about diamond - Bleeding Cool News

bleedingcool.com

Well, IDW decided to go with Penguin to distribute it's books. And Penguin sub-distributed through Diamond. So, with Diamond going bankrupt, Penguin wants the money it's owed. And Penguin wants IDW to pay part of the debts that Diamond owes them, due to their contract.

Also, IDW had a operating loss of over a million dollars last year. Which is apparently a improvement over last year.

And this whole situation is made even worse due to Diamond's distribution problems the last 3 months. I expect that sales of IDW's comics are down, because fans can't buy the comics, because Diamond hasn't shipped anything reliably for the last 3 months.

Apparently, there's going to be a conference call February 3, addressing the situation. But..it isn't looking good for ol' IDW.


Somehow, this feels relevant.

This time, I actually feel bad for them. This is not their fault. They've made some really questionable calls in the past. But, this time this whole situation just seems unfair.

 

[Superomegaprime]

It seems rather fair to me, if you can't pay what you owe, then bust you go, simple as that, they made the questionable choices and are now paying the price for those choices

 

[ZakuConvoy]

Well, it's more that IDW could not have possibly have predicted that Diamond would fumble the ball as badly as they have. The dominoes started falling because someone else screwed up. Not from a screw up of IDW's own making. That's just unfortunate.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

So, IDW had their conference call and...it basically boils down to "We'll be talking to the auditors about that."

IDW Pushes Back On Auditor's Report That Warns Of "Substantial Doubt"

IDW pushes back on auditor's report that warns of "substantial doubt" in the comic book publisher's future.

bleedingcool.com

They say that they think they don't have as much to worry about as that initial report seems to suggest. But, they don't give any reason why they think they're in a better position than others think or what they're going to do about it. So...we'll see.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I hope IDW does come up with some different information. That Penguin contract sounds nutty.