Rise of the toads

Sorry to interrupt the flow of entries in the competition with this post, but hopefully this will clear a few things up.

This competition is a bit of an experiment. We're trying to use a slightly more open and iterative model than usual for this type of competition. It is an adaptation of the process that works so well for code in open source projects, where patches are thrown around and beaten into shape after rounds of feedback to make it perfect. I think it will be very interesting to see how it works out for for art/graphics.

Allowing everyone to comment on all submissions is a way of encouraging the artists to improve on their work and make an even better logo. Everyone aiming for the perfect logo, just as we strive for the perfect code. But when reviewing code, we can usually improve on many technical points, whereas the logos are works of art, and personal taste plays a much larger role. In this case, the comments are based much more on the taste of the person making the comment than on some technical merit. So don't get sucked in by the comments, as they can be very misleading - and only reflect a single person's opinion (and (s)he probably has really bad taste anyway).

Another reason for the openness is to promote diversity. Artists should be able to look at the submissions so far and think "Hmmm.. Everyone bases their logos around some text. Maybe if I draw this ugly naked peeing toad I have in mind, my logo will stand out more."

Oh, you wished that this post would end here, didn't you? Let me just do another bad comparison with how new code is accepted into open source projects. The more interesting the change in the code is, the more discussion it gets - no one wants to waste time discussing trivial, or really bad code. The same goes for art, all good art is art that puts people's emotions in motion, making them happy or upset. So a submission getting many comments probably has a better potential of becoming the perfect logo.

Come on! Upset us! And remember, this is an experiment. So if it turns out to be a bad idea, it is our fault, but please help us carry out this experiment: make logos, make submissions and make comments.