Auckland Council logo competition
The current hissy fit by DINZ and Brian Richards seems adolescent and petty, far from what I’d expect from an Institute purporting to be speaking on behalf of New Zealand’s graphic design community.
It smacks of a country, city, national industry with little if any real idea about destination branding and a profession suffering from a bad dose of insecurity. New Zealand simply doesn’t have a frame of reference, because nobody has ever successfully pulled off a proper destination brand project in New Zealand (yes, there have been some good tourism brand work, but that’s not really the same thing as true destination branding).
Two key points that seem to have been missed by most of the so-called brand experts talking about the Auckland logo competition:
- It is a project to design the visual identity of the entity that will govern the city – the new Auckland council. The council aren’t the city, they are NOT the destination. This is just a competition to design the new council’s logo. It is not a destination branding project.
- The city brand needs to be owned by its real stakeholders and that includes the council, residents, businesses, organisations and institutions.
Good luck to the council and its logo design competition. While I certainly believe the council’s new logo should be designed by someone with specialist expertise, I see little if any problem in the council generating interest, discussion and community involvement in such a competition. Schools and graphic design students and a number of residents will have a lot of fun with it.
It’s a pity that DINZ and Brian Richards have found the energy to argue about this issue so publicly when there are more pressing matters that need to be addressed in the interests of the graphic design community. There are relatively few New Zealand design companies/designers producing world class brand work, and it’s interesting to note none of them are involved in the current DINZ PR campaign. That says a lot about the New Zealand design industry in my view.
Good points John, the performance of DINZ needs its own discussion. Looks like this design comp debacle might trigger that discussion that you point out is in dire need of attention.
I would assume nobody outside the design industry knows what DINZ is, at least now a few more do.
Thanks for the good post and good blog, nice one.
Hear! Hear! Superbly articulated much of what I’ve been thinking yet haven’t bothered to put down anywhere as its become such a tsunami in a goldfish bowl.
John. Settle down mate. Get with the programme. Two of our most awarded design companies are represented on the DINZ council. Inhouse and Alt.
Thanks for the post Grant. I hope you saw from my post that my primary points of concern were the tone and factual accuracy of the DINZ response, and whether it should be an issue of priority for DINZ. Yes some award winning companies may well be on the Council, but they’re not the ones front-footing the issue or claiming place branding expertise. DINZ, after an extended period of fairly low visibility on graphic design matters of note, is all over the media about the pros and cons of a public design competition. Do you really feel this is the most important issue DINZ should be making a splash over? I certainly don’t – when I read their initial press release it left me feeling the industry had no real self belief. If other people got that impression as well, then we (the design industry) have just shot ourselves in the foot.
I think it’s fantastic we’re debating this issue. No matter what view you have, voices are being heard. John you’re right that The Designers Institute hasn’t been as visible as some members would have liked, but I appreciate their rebuttal and press release/media appearance on this topic. Also if you or any other members have any suggestions or further points of discussion I’m sure the Board, and Cathy would like to hear them. Its up us as members of the Designers Institute to contribute to the ongoing conversation about design. Ace.
Thanks for your follow up note Moi@moi.com.
Better place for comment would be:
http://www.minimalsites.com/?page=1
http://siteinspire.net/showcase/all/60
http://www.formfiftyfive.com/2010/01/11022/
er Clem… as paying members we (my former workplace) emailed DINZ with constructive feedback and questions on a couple of issues last year and got no reply. They may consider themselves the voice of New Zealand designers but are they capable of talking and listening at the same time? … therein conversations are made.
I’d be very surprised if we actually got a true emblem for the super city. Maybe a picture of bureaucrats with arms full of paper rolls and Faxs riding bicycles along cycle lanes on car packed motorways… or a man with a axe standing arms folded beside a felled tree on One Tree Hill.
What a farce this compo is, have you seen what the prize is?
Bunch of celebs and celeb wannabes getting pictures from kids to define the bureaucratic nightmare the council will end up being. Fern leafs and harbour bridges anyone?
Welcome and thanks Sean, just worth noting though that it’s a comp to design a logo for the Council NOT the city.
Very interesting discussion and comments here, I do believe that this has been a nice catalyst for DINZ to finally speak out over a graphic design issue, which they don’t seem to do all that often.
As the sole representitive of the graphic design industry in NZ I think it’s very much in all of our best interests to see them sticking their nose into issues like this as much as possible. I’m quite sure that a ridiculous competition like this would never occur here in Sydney, and rightfully so, thanks to the education and discussion cultivated by AGDA.
We can only hope that one day NZ has it’s own version of AGDA – a specialised graphic design association, as no doubt, had such an organisation already existed, an institution such as the Auckland City Council would have already been educated enough to know that a design competition for such a high profile identity is definitely not in their own, or the Auckland public’s best interests.
Hello John. I just wanted to tell you thanks for commenting on my post at Design Assembly. Yes of course it is all of those other things designers keep going on about, but you seemed to be one of the only people who pulled in the point I was trying to make about the competition being, on one hand, an honest way to involve and hear from the community. (In fact a great way to engage them on the subject of design.)
Not to say this because you ‘agreed’ with me, but keep up the great work. I look forward to hearing/seeing more about everythingdesign from a distance.
Whatever your views on the Auckland logo competition are, this Blog post is well worth a read (and well done Tim): http://www.pixelace.com/2010/aucklands-logo-competition-dilemna/
The Auckland Council logo comp debate goes on: http://www.stoppress.co.nz/news/2010/03/brand-by-lottery/comment-page-1/#comment-3024