A logo with national impact for the arts
Yes, this request for proposals for a NEA logo is yet another request for free work, but this sounds like a fun project. I’m quoting here from the NEA ArtWorks website:
“Art works” is NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman’s guiding principle for his work at the NEA. The phrase has three meanings: “art works” are the plays, paintings, dances, films and the other works of art that are the creation of artists; “art works” describes the effect of art on audiences and viewers, art works to transport, transform, inspire, and challenge us; and “art works’ is a reminder that arts workers are real workers with real jobs who are part of this country’s real economy.
It’s time to convert these words into a powerful image, one that conveys the complexity and power of “art works.”
This morning, in Miami, Rocco announced the release of a request for proposals for the design of a new “Art Works” logo. Speaking at the Design and Architecture Senior High school he said, “Those two words – “art works” – pretty much sum up everything we are about at the NEA and I hope you will see them everywhere. Art, artists, and arts professionals work to change the communities they inhabit: they are placemakers and help create livable, sustainable, complete communities. I look forward to having a logo that conveys that.”
Here’s a fantastic opportunity to apply your creative talents to our vision. The deadline for submissions is February 26th, so time is of the essence. We look forward hearing from you!
No related posts, but check around GlimmerSite for lots of other interesting articles.
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This is a complicated issue. First, let me clarify – it looks like the NEA is going to pay for the logo they end up choosing, so they won’t be actually using anyone’s work for “free.” But I suspect that Mark and many, many others will not necessarily be comforted by this—because NEA is still encouraging lots of people to spend time creating work on “spec.” Like it or not, we’re going to see a lot more of this in the age of “crowdsourcing.”
Personally, I see crowdsourcing as a mixed blessing. It opens the doors for a lot of people out there with good ideas and talent. It means you don’t have to be an “insider”—someone who has the right job/industry affiliations or client connections, etc.—in order to compete on certain projects. But the flip side of the coin is that it can serve to devalue the work that established professionals do, as Mark rightly points out.
As a writer, I’m confronted with this mixed blessing every time I go online. New media has opened up all kinds of exciting new opportunities for writers, unlimited ways to get your ideas out there—but it’s also devaluing what writers do, since most blogs and websites expect to get their content free, or dirt cheap. And Mark, you can implore designers and other creators not to undersell themselves, but we both know that the decisions these artists make often will be based on their own personal needs (e.g., how hungry am I for experience and exposure?)
So what’s the answer? Damned if I know—it’s a complex design challenge that hasn’t been solved yet: How do we embrace the best aspects of crowdsourcing without devaluing professionalism? If anyone has ideas I’d love to hear them—but I ain’t paying for ’em.
For an entire, thoughtful book on this topic, check out tech guru Jaron Lanier’s new book You Are Not a Gadget. His reasoned manifesto notes with alarm the rise of crowdsourcing and the devaluation of individual accomplishment, among many other topics.
Nothing is for free. If you want fun, I suggest you take up a hobby. Graphic design is a profession, its practitioners are also real workers and have every right to be compensated fairly for their work.
When you take on speculative work, fun or not you devalue your profession, the discipline of design and the community as a whole.
.-= Mark Kaufman´s last blog ..Faces of Barcelona No. 3 =-.