Due to the AGM being held On Oct 4th I have decided to leave the contest open until Oct 1st.
Keep those entries coming!!
BTW… AGM OCT 4 7pm Oakfield Golf and Country Club. Check the events page for more info.
See you there!
/* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> StartFragment–>
We need a look.
We need an image that identifies who we are and what we represent in just a quick glance.
We need an image that people will remember forever.
We need an image that explains our unity and commitment to sustainable trails.
Our new look should be bigger than the artist formerly known as Prince, and flashier than that swoosh thingy on my shoes.
Our new look needs to tell people that we are from Nova Scotia, ride mountain bikes and Gosh Darn it, we LOVE trails!
[if !supportEmptyParas]–> [endif]–>
Think you can handle that?
[if !supportEmptyParas]–> [endif]–>
If you want to help us find our identity here is what you need to do.
Simply design as many logos as you desire and send them to troy@pedaltrout.com
All entries must be original works and will become property of The Nova Scotia Mountain Bike Trails Association.
[if !supportEmptyParas]–> [endif]–>
For your efforts, should you be chosen as the victor you will receive a very cool prize courtesy of the very kind folks at Trail Blazer Outdoor products,
A One Shot Shovel.
Every one in the world should have one of these babies!!
Enter now and enter often.
All entries will be judged by the NSMTBTA Board of Directors.
Contest Closes, September 15, 2010
EndFragment–>
Ask anyone in the creative industries why logo contests are uncool and then do the right thing and hire a starving design student to make you a nice logo.
Will do. I take it you are making us a donation to pay the designer.
I’m afraid that as a non-profit organization of volunteers with no source of funding at the moment it is highly unrealistic to expect us to hire someone. We are not asking a professional designer to donate their time or even enter the contest, we are simply calling for creative minds to come together. Nobody is being forced into entering.
I understand all the arguments around the “uncoolness” of creative competitions - I’m a photographer and a writer by trade and I know how hard it can be to make a living as a creative person. That said, I also know that every professional I associate with in the creative business does a LOT of work pro bono to build a reputation and to expand their client network.
You simply can’t expect an organization with no budget to hire a designer - we would actually be remiss in our mandate if we spent money on branding at this point when things like insurance, stamps and photocopying are coming out of our own pockets. If people want to submit logo ideas and one of them is suitable, we can offer a small token of our appreciation through a sponsor. If people don’t want to submit logo ideas, I guess Troy’s badly drawn sheep will have to suffice.
When I say “hire”, what I mean is you can offer an amount equal to the prize you were offering to the winner. Contests are not the same as Pro Bono work. I fully support P.B. because the design process is respected and the end result is usually respectable.
I bet if you asked around you could get a pro who would gladly donate their time.
Some friends (naturalselectionar.com) used this:
It is a minimum of $250, but the results were top shelf stuff. A paypal button and a request for $10 might get 25 people on board for you.
This contest is meant to be fun in nature and to bring out a bit of community involvement at at grass roots level.
If a designer wants enter the contest they are more than welcome to sell the prize should they win.
To me today Gimondi, you are taking the fun out of this contest and making me question why I even bother doing volunteer work. That is UNCOOL!!
I hope your day is going well.
“making me question why I even bother doing volunteer work”
Fortunately there are far more people who appreciate all that you (and other volunteers) do than there are critics!!
But it’s good to remember that there will always be critics and it’s not always a bad thing. Sure there’s those critics who just like to complain about everything, but, there is also those who critique in order to see things improve. I think Gimondi is just trying to have the backs of the struggling design folks. Sue gave us a great, informed response about designer concerns and why NSMTBTA is doing the logo design in the contest manner. So on a positive note with this particular thread, I can say that I’ve received a great learning experience. Due to the discussion between Gimondi and Sue, I now have a clearer understanding of the design world and better ways to avoid exploiting struggling designers. In the volunteer work that I do, I will most certainly keep this new knowledge in mind when the issue of logos arises. In fact, I now see how some of the past work of committees I’ve sat on maybe should have proceded in a different manner when it came time for a new logo.
nova scotia crest, shovel and pick crossing each other, maybe a brown strip, switch backing into the background, add some trees for more colour. if you want i could get my brother, he has a masters in graphic arts, to throw something together, but it’ll cost you. (lol)
Gimondi, I understand the points you make, however I don’t feel that a contest has to be exclusive of respect for the design process. A contest will not necessarily result in a final finished logo, however it can generate ideas for that logo from the people who are most involved with what it will respresent. I have complete respect for the design process, and I am fully aware of the training and talent that good design requires. That said, I don’t think that it’s impossible to believe that people without that training may still be capable of generating something decent.
As for payment and prizes, our group has no money yet, but we do have product sponsors who believe in what we are trying to do. If we can offer a prize in exchange for an idea why is that a bad thing? There’s nothing saying that eventually we won’t take that idea to a designer to have it brought up to professional standards, but maybe there are people amongst us who have talent without accreditation. As Troy pointed out, we want to involve our community and I see nothing wrong with calling on their creative talents for inspiration.
Gimondi, without ever having been to a NSMTBTA meeting, getting to know any of those involved who gladly volunteer up countless hours of their time, or even looking at this from the point of view of a non-profit organization truly in its humble beginnings without a lot of support, all that you offered was an attack rather than a respectful note or suggestion.
To be honest, I was quite shocked by this. T
o simply state that it’s uncool and that a professional should be hired is not helpful in the least.
I believe that the intention of this contest is to have fun and build a community – as without either, there will be no NSMTBTA. I also whole heartedly agree that just because one is not a “card carrying” professional does not mean that their work would be shabby and unacceptable.
While I understand your desire to defend the design profession so ardently, I respectfully suggest that you attend an NSMTBTA meeting, get to know those involved, see all the hard work that is put in, and the uphill battle that NSMTBTA really faces.
Perhaps it was a little harsh to say that your contest was “uncool” when what I really should have said was that a contest is an ineffective way to get a good result. A quality logo is really essential for a not-for-profit, it is a rally point for its membership, a way of attracting new members and positioning tool to attract sponsorship.
I don’t expect not-for-profits to hire expensive consultants to replace contests, that is not a good option. Still there may be plenty of other options available at little or no cost.
Here are a few:
-
form a committee and look within your membership for designers.
-
ask a the local design schools for help. Often they are looking for “real world” projects for their students.
-
ask a design student for help. They often need the work and can sometimes can use the project for course credit.
If you want to involve your membership, have them help out with the brand positioning. Ask for key words and phrases that accurately describe your organization. Develop a tag line and mission statement from this.
These processes have no winners and losers like a contest does so it won’t effect your organization’s morale in a negative way.
All the best.
Sniff sniff, what’s that I smell? Sour grapes?
If you are a design professional and have a problem with a contest like this, then you probably need to up your game to get real work anyway.
Thanks for stopping by gimondi to piss on the hard working people here who take money out of their own pockets to support the local MTB scene and actually do something about trail advocacy. It seems by your profile that you don’t even ride a mountain bike?
After reading all this I am voting for Troy’s “Sheep on Bike”. WTF. This went from a fun little logo contest to a pissing contest. Gimondi, thanks for your 2 cents. If we had any money we would go to a professional. But alas as it has already been stated we don’t(have money). In the time you have wasted here maybe you could have contacted the local design school for us and saved us this bullshit. Do you know any design students? Next time help, don’t criticize. Now get back on your road bike and play in traffic.
As an aside… I’m not sure what Gimondi’s preferred style of cycling has to do with any of the arguments here. Let’s not make this a roadie hate-on, that’s unrelated to the discussion.
For what it’s worth, I think the contest is a good idea.
C’mon I was just gettin’ warmed up. Ok, so the " play in traffic" was a bit rude.
As an aside… I’m not sure what Gimondi’s preferred style of
cycling has to do with any of the arguments here. Let’s not make
this a roadie hate-on, that’s unrelated to the discussion.
For what it's worth, I think the contest is a good idea.
It does have a bit of relavance in that the NSMTBTA is
a mountain bike trail advocacy association. No hate on
roadies in general here, just hate for roadies who sign up here to
make posts pissing on hard working volunteers trying to get shit
done.
We are not using my sheep!!!
I think Giomondi was well intentioned, his arrogance just got the better of him.
Perhaps he will surprise us and ride to our next meeting on a MTB and give us some suggestions on a design??