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AAE seeks new logo for Further Confusion

Edited as of Wed 18 Jun 2014 - 18:42
Your rating: None Average: 3.4 (5 votes)

Further Confusion old logoOrganizers of Bay Area furry convention Further Confusion are looking to update its 16-year-old logo.

Entries should incorporate AAE's service mark, "FurCon", and must be "clean and easy to understand", look good in color and black and white, and be PG-rated. They should not use "specific critters or characters", and must be available in vector format.

Multiple entries may be submitted by 12AM PT, July 4; the winner will be picked by the end of July. The selected designer will receive a FC2014 patron membership and merchandise; there will also be five runner-up sponsor prizes. All six will be featured online and in the conbook.

Public response so far has not been positive, though a few artists seem interested. The submission deadline has been extended from June 14.

Update (14 Jul): The selection and announcement of winners has been pushed back to the next FC staff meeting (August 17).

Update 2 (15 Aug): Bizarrely, a Forbes article about Obamacare has used the old logo as an illustration, two days before its replacement.

Update 3 (18 Aug): The winner and runners-up have been announced.

Comments

Your rating: None Average: 5 (3 votes)

Why not simply call the event "FurCon"? I've never understood the name "Further Confusion" to begin with.

Your rating: None Average: 2 (2 votes)

So "Further Confusion" is too confusing?

Your rating: None Average: 4.5 (4 votes)

You're saying that "Public response so far has not been positive" based on the mild Internet comments of three people?!? Before there's an official response? Come on.

Your rating: None Average: 3 (3 votes)

Yes, I am. Beyond the two artists I saw entering, the public response (what little there was) was negative. I saw several initial retweets, but a retweet is not an indication of support.

SmackJackal did post a tweet (that I just found) saying that the contest was "getting pretty good response so far". However, he is a board member, and the tweet - which linked to the website - was likely intended to drum up entries. The extension of the contest suggests they did not receive sufficient good entries by the initial deadline.

Chiaroscuro's comment does support the refresh, but was made after publication; he likely found out about it via FNN's repost of this story. Personally, I agree that the current logo could do with improvement; I may even enter myself.

Your rating: None Average: 3.4 (5 votes)

Public response is not positive towards FC because they trademarked the words FurCon :P Words that were in use LONG before they did that as a generic term. "Hey, are you going to the FurCon?"

:P

Your rating: None Average: 3 (2 votes)

Hence "further confusion"

The logo looks like terrible 90's clip art... oh, it is. Good idea to find a talented fixer!

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

I expected not positive response to do with the contention that logo design contests and on spec design work is bad practice. A couple of links to do with that: http://www.davidairey.com/logo-design-contests-bad-for-business/ and http://www.aiga.org/position-spec-work/

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

I'm guessing the winner or other contestants won't be getting paid actual money for this.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

Nope. Now, if you're planning to go anyway, it might be worth your time to whip something up - there's a good chance of getting one of the six registrations, plus some name recognition.

While I sympathize with the point of view expressed in the articles Katherine linked, I don't think there's a big issue with pro bono design work for non-profits which you support, as long as you think of it as another form of volunteering with a potential bonus. WikiFur got a great logo from MelSkunk; it was just one way in which she was able to contribute.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

I forgot that cons are non-profit (a-doy!), so that makes me feel a little bit better. Though I'm not sure if they're going to get a good logo with a bunch of amateurs (no offense to the artists). Good design work, especially logo design, is incredibly hard. Though their current logo...yea, overhaul. Their website has some major problems too: while I get they're going with a video game theme, the navigational font is hard to read and GOOD GOD THAT YELLOW. MY EYES. THEY BURN.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

Well, not all of them are non-profit. One story I've got on my never-ending to-do list would cover the for-profit nature of organizations such as FurIdaho. (Technically, Megaplex, ConFurgence and Oklacon are also run by for-profits, though I have no evidence to suggest that any of them intend to make a profit.)

Doubtless, you get what you pay for. My attempt is unlikely to win any design awards. Still, they may luck out.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

Those aren't half bad actually. Though I would discard or change the last one. The blob of dark blue around "Con" immediately attracts all the attention. I can barely keep my eyes on "Fur". #2 and #4 work best for me.

EDIT: To add, enclosing "Con" in blue or black is pretty distracting. Because of the high contrast around the word, it draws the attention. #4 works because "Fur" also has high contrast with the box, so both words are given equal importance. #2 works because even though "Con" still has high contrast, it's being read left to right, so viewers have to read "Fur" first.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

The variants are to demonstrate the logo's flexibility rather than suggest a canonical form; it'd be used in multiple formats. I made some in other colours, too (and yes, the outline can be distracting; I prefer it plain).

A competent artist could put together something fancier. Of course, FC has artistic guests each year, so in theory a plain logo isn't all that bad, as long as it can be colour-matched to the art.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

I like 1. The colors fix the contrast problem. 2 could work with some color tweeks, but 3's colors are too similar. 6 is too light to be noticeable. Overall not bad. :)

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

I think this contest is a great opportunity to attract amateur designers (like me) as well as professionals. I, myself, entered, but I don't think they would be able to beat anyone else's.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

The selection and announcement of winners has been pushed back to the next FC staff meeting (August 17).

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

I saw that. The suspense is killer.

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GreenReaper (Laurence Parry)read storiescontact (login required)

a developer, editor and Kai Norn from London, United Kingdom, interested in wikis and computers

Small fuzzy creature who likes cheese & carrots. Founder of WikiFur, lead admin of Inkbunny, and Editor-in-Chief of Flayrah.