Whose presidential campaign logo is best?

The design experts felt Pawlenty’s logo was one of their least favorite. “I really dislike the way the ‘Y’ was made larger at the end of the name. What does that say?” wondered Lundeberg. “The flag looks like a tarnished flag, and the overall look is something like a scrapbooking sticker,” he added.

“There is no good reason for the type,” agreed Rabdau.

Buddy Roemer

No one was too excited about the logo of the former Louisiana governor, but gave him some credit for trying to get beyond the ordinary red, white and blue.

Rick Santorum

The panelists also blasted Santorum’s logo on a number of fronts. “It looks like a dated logo for a city council candidate, not someone running for president of the United States,” said Rabdau.

Others took issue with the lengthy tagline. “Ron Paul and Romney keep it simple with three words, but Santorum’s ‘The Courage to Fight for America’ feels extremely wordy and clunky in context,” said Clayson.

Herman Cain

Cain's logo earned praise for being clean and crisp, but also for trying some different imagery with the torch. While some thought the logo felt more Olympic than presidential, others thought it worked fine.

Overall, the panelists were not overly impressed with the crop of logos. The marketing genius of the Obama campaign logo in 2008 left a high standard, they said. But a word of caution was given to the incumbent as well: “Obama’s change and hope logo doesn’t work as well now,” said Clayson. “His brand identity is different and his 2012 campaign logo will have to reflect that.”

Melissa Romley is the director of public relations for The Summit Group Communications.