Calling all artists and designers

[gerisullivan]

Want to be part of the future history of the Hugo Award? Do your art and design skills include logo design?

If so, please consider entering the Hugo Award Logo Design Contest. While the Hugo Award has its coveted rocket, it hasn't had an official logo that publishers and others can use to identify Hugo-winning works. The contest aims to change that.

I won't be entering the contest myself because I have the profound honor of serving as one of the judges. And, wow, look at the company I'm in: Chip Kidd, Irene Gallo, and Neil Gaiman.

Yes, indeed -- Chip, Irene, and Neil are the other three judges. I've had the pleasure of knowing both Irene and Neil for several years now. That eases the gosh-wow factor in some respects, and increases it in others. I've owned several examples of and admired Chip's work for years, though I wasn't familiar with his name until recently. If you're like me on that, I refer you to the book cover gallery that accompanies this Time magazine article from last fall, and also to Chip's Wikipedia entry.

fredcritter, it's times like these that I'm really grateful for everything you told me about Vaughn Bodé and how he treated pedestals -- how he kept stepping down from the ones people kept putting him on, or how he'd reach out a hand and haul you on up there with him. That served me extraordinarily well when I was first getting to know Walt Willis, and it continues to prove useful as remarkable opportunities like this one come my way. Still, the mind croggles.

Please read the submission guidelines and the contest rules before diving into the design process. And, yes, there are prizes! The winning designer will receive:
-- a $500 cash prize (donated by SCIFI);
-- a trophy with the winning design engraved on it;
-- an attending membership to an upcoming Worldcon;
-- signed copies of Neil's Hugo-winning works; and
-- the right to use the basic logo and identify him/herself as the logo designer.

While fandom operates on a gift economy, we recognize we're asking designers to do a good bit of work in order to enter the contest and thank WSFS and the prize donors for making these prizes possible. As always, the egoboo will be the biggest reward.

The contest is open to all. You don't have to be a professional graphic designer to enter, much though we anticipate you'd be competing against some. There is no fee to enter the contest. Participants can submit up to three entries. The contest deadline is May 31, 2009.

One final note, especially to friends here on LiveJournal who I hope will decide to enter the contest: we'll be judging the entries "blind" -- that is, with the contestants' names removed from the submissions before we see them. As such, if you decide to post your entry on your LiveJournal or elsewhere on the net, I hope you'll put it behind a cut-tag so I can avoid seeing it with your name attached. Thank you!

Comments

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

What a very cool idea. If only I could design logos.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I wish everyone thought it was a good idea. We're getting sniping from people who are saying things like "Hire a real designer" and "nobody should ever work 'on spec.'" Sigh. No good deed ever goes unpunished, I guess.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I'm struggling with this -- because of course I agree with the designers' main point, which is that professional companies seeking to get a logo 'on the cheap' with a design contest are missing the point.

But this seems to me to be more of a community thing; my guess is that the best submissions you will get will be from existing, talented fan artists ready to put the work in because of the kudos of having designed the logo rather than the chance of payment.

Plus we've been having base design contests for years without them attracting controversy.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

But this seems to me to be more of a community thing;...

Agreed, and that was our intent. I can only speculate that maybe some people really did think that the World Science Fiction Society is a Big Corporation with Lots of Money and that Fat Cats like me are raking it in hand over fist from the insane amounts of money we charge people to attend conventions and buy books -- we control all the world's science fiction, don't'cha know? -- and were sticking it to the little guys. (Yes, I exaggerate for effect, but not by much.)

Plus we've been having base design contests for years without them attracting controversy.

Again, I'm speculating that this doesn't matter to the aggrieved parties on account of it's not the same kind of graphic design. At least one of the protesters seemed IMO singularly tunnel-visioned. I pointed out that my employer, in pursuit of contracts, does "spec work" valued at millions of dollars in effectively free consulting. (We're a supply chain management company. I design databases and supply chain models to optimize large, complex companies product flows. Parts of what I do are incorporated into RFP responses in an attempt to win the business.) He dismissed my analogy on the grounds that Big Companies don't matter and that what I did wasn't Real Work anyway, not like being a poor struggling graphic designer. Well, thank you so much for dismissing my entire career as meaningless!

(This should not be taken as me denying the immense value of work done by artists and designers. I can't do that work, but I don't make the Dilbert-esque mistake of assuming anything I don't know how to do is easy.)

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Really? You were one of the fans who came to mind when I was thinking of those I'd like to see tackle the design challenge. You did some interesting things with the Time Traveler's Ball artwork you created many moons ago, and your skills have only continued to expand since then.

Your reaction reminds me of the one I had when Deb Geisler asked me to design the Noreascon 4 logo. While I'd created some logos for PROmote clients, I could easily think of several fannish designers better suited to the N4 logo design job. Then, as I was responding to Deb, I started having ideas. "If I were to design your logo, it wouldn't be "X," it would be more along the lines of "Y." Hmmm..."Y" had some interesting possibilities.

That's how the email that was intended to apologetically turn down the request instead turned into a design concept. Much fun experimentation followed, and much learning, too. During the design phase itself, then during the following three years when I had to live with both the strengths and weaknesses of my work.