Phoenix Design Week was trying to think of a way to get as many creatives involved in the branding of Phoenix Design as possible. The volunteers, while a great example of the initiative found in the hardworking designers of Phoenix, were not the only voices, styles and designers they were looking to represent in design week.
To resolve this issue, the promotions group working with Phoenix Design Week thought up the Phoenix Design Poster Contest where anyone can submit a poster design that they feel represents themselves, represents the spirit of Phoenix design (not the clichés) while demonstarting the diversity, talent, and intelligence of the design community.
To make it more fun/interesting, they tacked on a prize for the best poster; the possibility of having their poster placed into the swag packs handed out to all Phoenix Design Week attendees. Though this is great exposure for the artist, it’s not really the point of the entire contest.
Some people were upset by this, making it seem as if Design Week was going against the AIGA standard of “spec” work by holding this contest. To be 100% clear, Phoenix Design Week does not consider this spec work, and they are 100% against such practices. The AIGA lists the differences between purely spec work and uncompensated work in their position on spec work article. Some people have pointed to the “contest” part as an example of this, but Phoenix Design Week has responded by saying they think the idea applies only to things like 99designs, not a community building poster exhibition.
Each piece submitted will be displayed on the Phoenix Design Week website and a certain number of them will be printed and displayed in an exhibition during the week’s events in October. Everyone who submits wins on some level, it’s just the enticement of an additional level of exposure that some have viewed as being out of line with AIGA’s standards of practice.
This article was written to invite everyone to join in on the designs, to take a few hours from the daily humdrum of day-to-day work and go crazy, have fun, and make a poster about who YOU are, and how your work represents the talent in Phoenix.
What do you think Phoenix Design is?
I would have fewer problems with it if the competition picked several really good ones instead of trying to anoint one as the “best,” as that is such a subjective standard. And who is/are the judge(s)?
I agree that a competition like this is not spec work and it certainly does not seem as if the sponsor is trying to get something for nothing.
The above article would make PDW look better if it had been proofread for spelling and grammar! I hope that the writer of it is in fact not a writer by trade.
I had the feeling the spec issue would be raised, and I’m glad there’s a well-reasoned response. I think the “contest” word is definitely the issue, only because there are so many “contests” that are really just crowdsourcing of what would be billable work.
But much like PHX Layers, I think the obvious difference here is that no one will be surreptitiously profiting from anything created, except maybe the PHX design community at large. I’m looking forward to checking out everyone’s work just as much as creating my own.
PS: Glad you mentioned clichés, but I bet we’ll see a kokopelli or two
Richard_
I am not a copywriter, someone proofread after you probably read it, so I hope all those typo’s are gone. I kind of write stream of thought…forget some things like “tense” and others as I go along. Creative writing and poetry classes do not make me the best at articles sometimes.
As for the ‘best’ concern…a number of the posters with the most votes will be printed and displayed at the exhibition, the rest showing digitally, so there are two variations of ‘winning’.
The posters will be put up on the website and the public will vote. Its everyone who is judging, not just us. It will be the Phoenix Design community voting on how it wants to represent itself through the posters it votes as the best. So, while its true its subjective, its subjectivity from the public, not just the design week volunteers. Hope that helps?
Sean_
I’m guessing there will be more than a few parody posters. Makes me nervous!
Anyone who considers this spec work can simply not enter. Since the poster is supposed to be designed by people who embody the spirit of Phoenix and it’s voice, then this is isn’t about trying to sell something. It seems more about spotlighting the talent then trying to make a buck. The people who will be gaining from the promotion of PDW are in fact the designers themselves so why wouldn’t you want to see your own work contribute back to the community you’re a part of?
It’s like saying you wouldn’t want to be a part of the rebranding of a 501c3 unless you got paid for it. No good deed goes unrewarded, so suck it up. Unless you’re the type of person who expects a pay check when you go to a soup kitchen to help, this shouldn’t even be an issue for most people.
If it smells like a contest, walks like a contest…
You can try to justify it under the guise of bringing the community together, but creating a contest which requires new art, specifically for the promotion of an event, without compensation, still harms the design industry.
I’m not saying this is a sinister contest, nor that I think anyone will get screwed somehow because they spent a few hours creating a poster, but I still don’t feel this way the best way to feature the talent in our community.
If the intent is to showcase the talent in Phoenix, then why not showcase existing work? Or if the idea of poster was that important, why not put a call for entries with a small exhibition fee and feature everyone’s work?
Per your contest guidelines, why must all artwork become property of Phoenix Design Week? According to the Graphic Artists Guild’s Guidelines to Art Competitions, that can be a red flag. How can I be assured that my design won’t be altered in any way? And what are the parameters of voting? Can I vote on my own poster? On my friend’s poster? Will event organizers also be submitting and voting on their own work?
Furthermore, your post confuses me as to what type of event you want this to be. The attitude towards this contest is hey, relax – we’re all one big happy community, happy to share our work. But is that the right way going about putting Phoenix on the map as a top design city? That ultimately, we’re just all a bunch of college kids adding work to our portfolios HOPING to get noticed by the larger cities out there? I just feel it hurts the credibility of what is trying to be achieved here.
Fine, call me uptight – but I take my job very seriously. I spent 6 years in school, have my Masters in Graphic Design, and have subsequently spent 8 years striving to become a better designer. I’m proud of my work, as are my clients and employers. I’m proud of the work of my colleagues because I do feel as a collective they are making Phoenix thrive in this industry. And in my opinion, spending the time on a contest just belittles all those efforts.
Hello Niki,
We have not turned a deaf ear to your comments and I’d like to clarify a few points that you brought up here that hopefully will ease the tension and put us apart from the rest.
Firstly, No one is required to create new work for this contest. The idea is to represent Phoenix DESIGN, not to create a poster for PHXDW. The only “catch” to this is we ask everyone use our template. This model was pulled directly from the AIGA’s “Get out the vote” project. It’s basically the same concept. The only real difference is we wanted to add an extra incentive with the swag bag prize. Either way, ALL valid entries will be shown in one way or another (Printing is always limited, as seen in the AIGA’s poster project which was only 24 posters.)
Secondly, we have revised the Terms and PHXDW will NOT own any rights to anything submitted. The TOS now states we will be granted only permission to display the posters on the website and in physical format, please review the full terms on the site. Anyone may enter. Voting specifics will be announced closer to the voting period. If you would like to contribute ideas to this project, please join us at the next PHXDW promotions meeting, you would be more than welcome!
To your third concern, Creating local and national recognition is one of the many goals of Phoenix Design Week. This poster exhibition is just one piece of that. We care about Phoenix and the designers who reside here, many of which are unaware each other and their work, and this will provide an opportunity for us to share in a centralized location.
I don’t think you should be called uptight as spec work and contests raise more than valid concerns. The contest is open to anyone and everyone, and those who it open to who feel it wastes their time can simply ignore it. Hopefully most won’t feel that way. Again, I think it’s important to stress that this is NOT a “Crowdsourced Contest” to benefit a single client/entity. We are operating more along the lines of the AIGA’s “Get out and vote” project. Everyone’s work will be shown, featured and championed as the best in Phoenix. There’s just an extra incentive to make things a little more fun!
Please feel free to send the promotions group your thoughts and comments that may help us improve!
One last note. If you would like, or know something you’d like, to show their work in a exhibition specific to them; submissions are open until tomorrow (Friday Aug. 28th) http://phxdw.com/submissions
Best regards,
Andrew Coppola
Thanks Andrew for such a well written response – it does seem like there have been some significant tweaks to the contest since it was first introduced.
While I still think it would be ideal to feature the work submitted in a “poster hall” of sorts, it it nice that you guys are guaranteeing to make all submissions visible on the website, not requiring that it be original work done for the purpose of this contest, and most importantly, allowing the designer to retain the rights to their work.
I think this is a fair compromise. Thanks for listening.
-Niki