It’s not really fair to call the process of evaluating work “judging.” Yes, we are discerning, but it’s not a contest and we’re not weighing the merits of one submission against another. Rather, we are seeking a diverse collection of projects that help describe a greater narrative. This is how we went about it:
We received 428 entries prior to the August 14 midnight deadline, meaning Katy McCauley was closest with her guess of 432. Katy, send us your address and six months or so from now you’ll get an advance copy of the book.
Everyone else, thanks for your participation. Anyone who posts on the blog will be entered in a random drawing for some other goodies associated with the book — and we’ll have another contest soon.
I’m out of town today, writing this from the quasi-solitude of a beachside house in Bodega Bay, California. It’s a working getaway and a quiet place to think and write and read. Sort of. Honestly though, I miss being at the office, especially today. For the past few days it seems like the doorbell is constantly ringing — first FedEx, then UPS, then DHL, then the regular mail carrier, then the late FedEx, then the late UPS, all interspersed with the occasional courier. I know Ethan also fielded a few phone calls from designers trying to coordinate an extension. As of a little before midnight yesterday I’d responded to 44 emails inquiring along similar lines. If experience is any lesson, today will only be more intense.
That brings us to the concept of the deadline. At least in the design industry, every competition has three deadlines: The promoted deadline, the extended deadline, and the real deadline. The advertised deadline is the one most people meet. Procrastinators can generally rely on that date being extended the day of the “official” cutoff expires. The real deadline is usually the day before the judging (depending on who, how persuasive or how charming you are).
If you’re interested, the word deadline has roots in the American Civil War. Prisoners of war were held in camps or stockades, not all of which had fences. In their place, a dirt line was physically inscribed around the perimeter. Prisoners were instructed to stay within that line or they would be shot (as in dead) — a slightly more effective deterrent than our modern-day concept of the deadline.
To encourage participation/comment on the blog, we’ll be running a few contests/raffles/giveaways over the next few months as we write the book. The first one is easy and silly. With the deadline closing tomorrow we’ll soon begin logging , reviewing and categorizing all the submissions. We have a running bet in the office as to how many we’ll receive; I though it might be fun to extend that bet to you as well.
Last Friday I posted about our need to include more women designers in the book. Since then I’ve heard from several of design’s leading ladies and I’m really excited to see what comes in this week.
Over the weekend I also received emails from a number of male designers that I am equally excited about. Aaron Draplin, Mick Hodgson, Sean Adams, Jason Munn, Frank Chimero, Bill Drenttel, Brian Jones, Joel Templin, and many other wrote in with a heads up that they’ll be submitting work. Meanwhile, entries have been arriving from Singapore, New Zealand, Venezuela, the UK and all over the U.S. We’re going to have a big task ahead of us as we sort through all the submissions, but I think it bodes well for the overall quality of the book.
If you’re reading this and haven’t submitted anything yet, you still have a few days left to do so. Do it.
Today was a good day.
With one week left before the extended deadline closes, today we sent out an email blast reminder to our network of designer, friends and colleagues from whom we have not yet received work, encouraging them to contribute. I also sent out personal emails to about 25 women designers I know personally, urging them to send in work. For some reason we’re pretty light on representing women here, and I decided it was important to take a proactive step to address that. I spent much of the day fielding replies from the likes of Cinthia Wen, Melanie Doherty, Margo Chase, Ann Willoughby, Sharon Werner and others. I heard back from most of them and I’m much more encouraged now. I expect some really amazing work to roll in next week. I may even give you all a sneak peek when it does.
Just a reminder that the extended deadline closes in 7 days.
That’s Friday, August 14
We have a lot of submissions from all over the world — many from firms we recognize but lots of newcomers too. We’re still looking for great work to include. Why not take a moment today to get your entries together and send them in? It’s free and it will make a difference.
I’m particularly interested in submissions from women designers and/or women run firms. So far the submissions look to favor men about 5 to 1 (!), and I know that’s not the complexion of the profession…
This week has been about gray areas — those indeterminate territories of understanding, delineation and judgement. The design directions are in the hands of the publisher (who is out of the office for another 10 days or so) so we’re in a holding pattern there. The submission deadline has been extended another two weeks (until the 14th) and though entries continue to arrive we’re still not opening them — leaving us in a hazy gray area of curiosity as we ponder the contents of the growing pile of boxes envelopes and tubes in the corner of the office.
The biggest gray area remains how to decide what makes the cut. This week especially I’ve been fielding inquiries from interested designers, curious to know if their work qualifies as “good.” These include for-profit projects that nonetheless promote a social message, works of industrial (as opposed to purely graphic) design, environments, naming and branding, etc. There is no clear cut answer as to what makes a project “good” and its been the topic of some discussion in the office. If I make a T-shirt with a social message and sell it for a profit, is that good design? If I design a system that encourages people to modify their behavior and attitude toward the indigent, but there’s no tangible deliverable, is that good design? If I do well-compensated work for a non profit that pays its Executive Director a quarter million dollars a year, is that good design?
I know there are a lot of good designers out there who, like most designers, are waiting until the last minute to submit work. Now we’re giving you some extra minutes.
The deadline to submit work has been extended two weeks to Friday, August 14.
Of course, we’re already making selections for the book, so the sooner you get your work in, the better it is for everyone.
Why not download the submission form now and get that intern started on prepping your entries…
Yesterday I took the office on a little field trip to the AIGA San Francisco galleries where Cause/Affect is on exhibit. With the fewer people and less booze it was much easier to really see, examine, read about and appreciate the work. We talked about the pieces we liked — and while all were good there were some that clearly moved us.
Today I’ve been going through our notes and reaching out to some of those designers to sending work for the book. I’ve also been going through hundreds of bookmarks from the past year, following up on amazing socially-engaged projects from around the globe. To give you a sense of the scope and variety of the work being considered, here are a few of the projects I been looking into today:
The Girl Effect. Awesome. Succinct. Effective.
EcoFont — a typeface designed to save ink and toner.
Affluenza — exploring the cultural impact of consumer values.
Hornall Anderson’s Work for Ripple Effect.
Volume’s work for the California Academy of Sciences (and other projects).
Among many others.
All of these are examples of organizations harnessing the power of effective design to motivate giving, promote understanding, provoke dialogue, create community or simply question the status quo.
I’m looking forward to hearing and sharing their stories…
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