Design Us A Logo

The Hugo Awards has a rocket, but there is no easily usable logo that people can put on web sites, on book covers and so on. We thought it was about time we had one. So we are launching a contest. If you are a talented graphic designer, or you know one, please spread the word. The winning design is likely to appear all over the Internet, and in bookstores; maybe even on movie screens. Full details of the contest are available here. Be sure to check out the submission guidelines and official rules. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

14 thoughts on “Design Us A Logo

  1. Wow. Design your logo for free? I’ll get right on that! You do realize people earn their living via graphic design right? Make a living, and possibly BUY Hugo Award winning books?

    Maybe I’ll just convince a bunch of my friends to just go and download books for free on bit-torrent or something. This stuff should be free right?

    Do some research. Read some design award magazines, find a firm who’s work you like, and then hire them. Don’t let your logo turn into a spec job.

    http://www.no-spec.com/

  2. I note in the Official rules that all entries become the sole property of WSFS, including the ones that don’t win and don’t receive any payment. It is also stated “re-use of unsuccessful entries would be difficult without infringing existing WSFS rights.” That’s disturbing. That unequivocally means a lot of people are working for free.

  3. Tony:

    The reason for that wording is that every one of the logos is going to include the words “Hugo Award,” and WSFS owns a registered service mark on “Hugo Award.” The entrants could of course make new work based on their old work as long as it doesn’t include the registered service mark.

  4. The rules still stipulate that all work technically becomes sole property of the WSFS. Look, I know in my heart that the WSFS is composed of good people who mean nothing but the best, but my colleagues who are pointing out the aspects that haven’t been considered are, IMO, totally right. An artist cannot go into a contract dependent on the kindness of strangers.

  5. Sad to see a blessing of design contests from an org like Hugo.

    If Hugo is the exception to the questionable ethics of creative service contests as I keep hearing over and over, then I’d expect Hugo to be selling that angle. Instead, they sell it like any other contest holder: “this gives a designer a head start”, etc. Just like all others it’s packaged as good fun, and even proportionately beneficial between parties.

    Hugo is an umbrella org for a creative sector that is a cousin to design. Hugo certainly deserves it’s fan support, so it’s not quite picking on Hugo alone. I think those that are putting a frown on this are trying to slow the widespread perception that design contests are a healthy first resort to take advantage of for anyone. Most are grossly exploitive and go to extra lengths to be extra-exploitive in the fine print. So to hear Hugo, part of the overall greater creative services brethren adopt the usual “It’s fun for the designers, they’ll enjoy it” tone is (to me) a bit sad and insensitive.

    Designers have good reason to keep their market value strong, and I think that’s all their doing here.

  6. To the inspiring Graphic Artist trying to get your name out there. DO’NT DO THIS!!!

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