PREMIER LAUNCHES LIVESMART BC LOGO CONTEST
VANCOUVER - British Columbia design students are being invited to compete to create a new logo for the government’s LiveSmart BC climate action programs, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.
“Our goal is to tap into the creative energy and talent of our young people to empower British Columbians to take action on climate change,” said Campbell. “LiveSmart BC will be an overarching, recognizable brand that will inspire the public to get involved in climate action and promote healthier, more eco-efficient ways of living.”
The winning logo design will receive a prize of $10,000 with four runners-up receiving prizes of $2,500 each. The challenge is to design a LiveSmart BC logo that is:
* Unique and inspirational.
* A public symbol of British Columbia’s commitment to sustainable growth and climate action.
* Inclusive of the brand name “LiveSmart BC.”
* Suitable for use on government websites, on resource and marketing materials, in print and animated forms, and in conjunction with government services and programs as well as partners and external stakeholders.
“LiveSmart BC will be launched this spring and will reward smart choices that save energy, water, fuel, time and money,” said Campbell. “The new LiveSmart BC programs will help to contain urban sprawl and reward development that creates affordable housing, new green spaces and more people-friendly neighbourhoods.”
Entry Requirements
* Entrants must be students, 19 or older and currently enrolled at a recognized post-secondary institution or design institute in British Columbia.
* Design teams may include one or more persons (one entry per person).
* Entrants must complete a submission form, including the institution they are attending and a brief description of how the design represents the LiveSmart BC brand.
* The winning entrant(s) must agree to sign a waiver of rights before claiming the prize.
* Deadline for submissions is April 28, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. PST”
If it’s a good cause; a good reason to involve youth, it should be a good enough cause to give it full process. It deserves, at least, the process any company worth its shareholders’ money would follow. That process involves finding the right designer through a review of reputation, portfolios and “fit”. If you want design students to take on the task, ask for expressions of interest from students (and make sure everyone knows about it so it’s fair), but choose one person (or a team) who will have access to day-to-day contact so that the ultimate solution is one that has been shaped properly by the entire communications team behind the program.
The Premier wants to raise awareness within the whole province and, by the looks of it, to involve youth. Good idea. Youth are the “influencers” in modern society. If you want something to happen, involve youth. But, in my experience as a teacher, design students are some of the most environmentally and socially conscious people on the planet. So their awareness isn’t the issue. Create an identity that will resonate with youth and create a marketing communications strategy around it.
But a contest sends the message that anyone might get lucky and stumble on the “right” idea, although who decides what the “right” idea is will likely (and I draw on historical precedent here) be a hand picked group of political sycophants with little or no knowledge of how identities work and how they don’t. I don’t mean to sound nasty here, it’s just the way of the world and I’ve been around long enough to know it. This cause deserves better, and if the budget was used this way, instead of for a contest, it would cost no more and, perhaps, less.
Will the sky really fall if design students participate?
As someone who has been Professional Member of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) and a senior designer and design advocate, I am one person who has given design contests considerable thought and public voice over the years. I have also walked away from every one of countless numbers of these “carrots” dangled by both the public and private sector.
To a student (and a large number of young professional designers) this is a “juicy” opportunity. $10,000 is a lot of money. Heck, when you’re living on KD, so is $2,500. Without thinking about the larger context, why would anyone not want to participate? And is their participation “really” going to make the sky fall? Apparently, no one thinks so as I often find myself defending my position, often to designers.
Designers are their own worst enemies in this regard. These little crumbs falling away from our status as professionals are small (okay, $10,000 isn’t a small crumb, but it is payment to only one winner, chosen by what real criteria we may never know), but they are, in fact, eroding our status as a profession. It is not simply a “craft”, but a profession consulting on larger strategic business issues. Yet we (as a profession) continue to be lured by “pretty, shiny things” in the hopes of instant fame and success. It has never worked that way, though. Companies that create contests laud the winner with a press conference and a “prize” and then go and hire “professionals” to continue the work. As long as there are people in our profession who will hustle for free, we will continue to be viewed as easy marks.
Does it hurt clients?
The problem with contest for the clients who mount them is, they’re making an assumption that an identity can simply “be created” and this way they'll get lots! In my 25 years of experience, identities take the full participation of client and designer. They require ongoing, focussed dialogue. There will be logos created here, and it is possible that one of them might fit the purpose, just as it is possible that if you throw a bunch of straight pins up in the air, one of them might land standing straight up. It lacks sophistication and an understanding of the value and purpose of communication design.
It is important to ask why companies and organizations “choose” the contest route. There are a few possibilities:
They don’t have a clear strategy laid out for an identity or program, so they prefer to have a lot of ideas put in front of the to see if one resonates to an as yet undefined collective corporate consciousness.
They cut corners by using non-professionals when they can get away with it.
In government circles, they’re afraid to exclude or offend anyone. (but they end up offending everyone instead).
They want to stage an idealized social exercise so that their “stakeholders” feel involved. In a misguided attempt at transparency, they demean every member of the design profession. I should point out that I think this model works fine for not-for-profits who want to stimulate awareness and involvement with their stakeholders and then pay a professional to refine the chosen idea, as long as the call for entries is issued to the general public, not professionals.
If there is truly no money and the cause is a good one, the way to do it is to review portfolios and “ask” someone to become involved for no fees as a charitable work. This is not appropriate, though, for organizations which generate vast revenues. I would consider both the BC Government and 2010 to be organizations which, though technically “non-profit”, generate large revenues and seem able to pay everyone “but” communication designers for their services. Transparency can be achieved in so many better ways. And money will be better spent, which of course is the government’s fiduciary duty.
The message of contests to design student
When the Minister of Advanced Education, the Premier and the Auditor General sit down to lunch at the Empress and decide on where to cut on education, what do you think goes through their minds?
Science, Math, Medicine and Law are important. They drive the economy. They pay lots of taxes. These are “important” professions. Design is art, right? Art is what you support when there’s extra money floating around. “Makes the people happy to see us support ‘the arts‘. But we’re a bit short on cash this year, so art’s gotta go.”
“Art” is a frill. It’s flaky. It’s not “real” work. (this is the Premier thinking, not me, BTW). Now, if you look at those words and you look at the “contest” model, you can see why the Premier and other otherwise intelligent people think it’s OK to try to placate the design community with something “exciting” like a contest with a “prize”. These are flaky people. They don’t do “real” work. Why, if we weren’t having this contest, they’d be on the dole and costing us even more!
So...if we don’t take ourselves seriously enough to stand up and say we’re professionals and that we don’t sit at arborite tables drawing on napkins; that many of us are in the boardrooms of BC’s largest corporations helping to shape corporate strategy; that we pay employees and ourselves real, competitive wages; pay taxes AND we contribute to the competitiveness of this province in all business sectors...why do you think anyone else will? If there are just a couple of us who are willing to sneak around behind the rest and try to take the cheese out of that trap, we’re all going to be painted with the same pathetic brush.
