NEA Logo contest entry
So last month I spent a bunch of time working on a logo design in response to Uncle Sam’s RFP: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/wholl-design-the-new-nea-logo-it-could-be-you/
. Regardless of what I think of spec work, I love high scale design competitions. Too much design is born from who-you-know and schmoozing.
Here’s my scrapbook file:
and the final entry:
My chief complaint about spec work, aside from the potential for exploitation, is that a contest format does not allow for due diligence to create a defensible design solution. Without the necessary insight into an organization that the research and fact-finding phase offers, all one can do is create pretty pictures.
I saw the RFP. As thorough as it was, it was not a substitute for the professional process required to suggest a new identity to a client.
I prefer to not give away my work, even if it is high-profile. I support the AIGA’s position for the betterment of our profession, my studio… and for you. I wish you would do the same.
Monica Bussolati
member of AIGA, Washington, DC chapter
Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve had success with contest stuff before, and it’s lead to great business relationships and new clients for me, but I realize that makes me biased.
I probably wouldn’t have even touched this, except that the NEA is close to home for me. I’ve had numerous grant apps rejected by them, and throughout my 7 years of art school, they cast a shadow over much of the politics and general goings on.
Nice to hear your response. I will always choose the long-term best for the design profession, whether or not it hurts in the short-term.
There is a big difference between what we produce and those online design options offered through contests at sites such as 99 designs dot com and others. Informed clients know that, so we’ll never lose business to sites like that. Some of the logos are gorgeous, but… I provide our clients with a lot more value than ‘gorgeous.’ (We do gorgeous too when it is appropriate.)
hey, did you ever see this blog post calling out designers for stealing their logo ideas for the design contests at that site? Check it out… http://www.thelogofactory.com/logo_blog/index.php/copied-work-entered-into-99designs-logo-design-contest-again/
Some of their examples are more compelling than others, but still… very discrediting to 99
Monica Bussolati