Logo contest coming to a close

In just one week, there will be a new and original logo used to represent the Lyndon State College Hornet mascot, and a student who will be $500 richer.

Next Friday, Dec. 10 is not only the day of December graduation, but also the day in which the winning logo will be announced that will be used to represent the hornet mascot.

The contest came about after the college received a letter from Georgia Tech demanding that the current hornet logo be changed, as it bears a striking resemblance to their copyrighted Yellow Jacket logo, "Buzz."

Director of Communications and Marketing Keith Chamberlin said that a combined 36 students attended the informational meetings held on Nov. 10 and 11, most of who were members of the visual arts department. 

Chamberlin said that one of the requirements for participants was to attend one of the two informational meetings held by himself and Athletic Director Chris Ummer. 

"This was a real world assignment," Chamberlin said.  "In order to make it as realistic as possible, we required that interested students attend a thorough, professional briefing on what we were looking for."

A guidelines sheet was also handed out to students at the briefing meetings; outlining specific criteria that they needed to follow in order to be eligible to win.  Some of the criteria included how the logo should be portrayed, how the design should be submitted, and the approved colors that could be used. 

In addition, it was recommended that students in the contest do an image search on Google to assure the originality of their design.  The sheet states that the Marketing and Communications Department would conduct a thorough search as well, and any submissions that are judged to be too similar to an existing image will be disqualified.

Finally, it was said Lyndon State College will have exclusive reproduction rights of the winning image, and that the college reserves the right to alter the image to suit their needs.

The contest closes at 5 p.m. tonight and the winner will be announced on Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.  Judges for the contest included Chamberlin along with Chris Ummer, one or two members of the visual arts faculty, Associate Dean for Student Affairs Jonathan Davis, and President Carol Moore.  In the unlikely situation that the contest does not produce a usable image, no winner will be announced and no cash prize will be awarded.

Chamberlin said that he hopes to have logos in circulation the following week for people to start using.