1. There are no rules. In the fashion of liberty and one of the cores of LP philosophy of freedom is that regulation stifles creativity. So while there are some guidelines & desires listed here, they are by no means rules. Go where your creative spirit leads. Make us say wow.
2. What we like:
• The LP wants to be known as the party of cuts to government. THIS IS NOT A SLOGAN, but when people think of the LP, we want them to think of a truly smaller government.
• We like (but is not entirely necessary) for our logo to be associated with the word LIBERTY, as in Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, etc. There are classic iconic aspects to the Statue of Liberty, (torch, tablet, head-piece, whole shape, statue base, etc) and also to the Liberty Bell (general outline, crack, etc) and any of these elements might be expanded into a central theme for the mark’s shape.
• In the past, our colors have been golden-yellow (close to PMS 109) and a dark blue (close to PMS 282). We are not married to these colors. Any color scheme can be used, many LP members are fond of purple, but we’re not designing a new image for the people we’ve already won over. We want something that commands respect from those people who are not yet on our side.
• We would prefer a word mark or letter mark style of logo as opposed to a symbol/icon style of logo, however, if a symbol could be used if it’s in combination with a word mark or a letter mark logo.
• Some things we don’t like about our current logo: 70’s looking, overly detailed, poor colors, gradient, fine print, and it’s round… but not perfectly round – so it can’t be used with round stuff because the torch-flame sticks outside of the round shape and is cropped if used, for example, on a round sticker.
• We would like initial presentations to be in (or include) a black and white edition so we can compare all logos on a level playing field. We can talk color in the second round of design.
• List of keywords we’d like the logo to convey: strength, trust, stability, different, comfort, thrift, downsizing, dismantling, cutting, freedom, liberty
There are two days left to submit designs. The winning design will not necessarily become the party’s new logo, which may or may not actually be changed, but will help inform the decision of the LNC. The next meeting of the LNC will be in Phoenix the last weekend of this month. It is possible that the LNC could actually adopt a new logo at that meeting, but based on past timeframes of decisionmaking by the LNC it is likely to be deferred to email discussions and/or a future in-person LNC meeting.
.Blake said: “The real meat and potatoes of what needs to be changed is our community involvement. Every single Libertarian needs to be leading community volunteer work such as cleaning up parks, habitat for humanity, food drives etc. Every day the government leaves millions of Americans screwed and out to dry, we should be there to fill the void and give these people a helping hand, voluntarily.”
I agree with this, and my Pasadena group has been looking for outlets in the community that could use our support.
The party needs a 100% overhaul from top to bottom. Why? Because the status quo isn’t cutting it. People don’t want to be involved with us, even small “l” libertarians. Whether its justified or not, they tend to come in, have a negative experience, leave and swear up and down “I’ll never do that Libertarian Party thing again!”. Go to any small “l” libertarian gathering and drop our brand name, their answers will prove what I’m saying. I believe in this party just as much as I believe it needs to change. If we have a brand reputation at all, its damaged to the point that we need a complete overhaul.
To all of the people leaving comments about not wanting to change the logo, you may be stuck in old ways. Old ways that get us no where. I’m 22, and I became active in LP when I was 19. I’m usually the youngest involved. Want the honest truth that hurts? I see a bunch of cynical old timers that are stuck in old ways and aren’t really up for innovating a new way so they keep trying to saw a log with a butter knife.
That being said, a new logo and a new brand isn’t going to fix everything. The real meat and potatoes of what needs to be changed is our community involvement. Every single Libertarian needs to be leading community volunteer work such as cleaning up parks, habitat for humanity, food drives etc. Every day the government leaves millions of Americans screwed and out to dry, we should be there to fill the void and give these people a helping hand, voluntarily.
Does he work for the government?
My guess would be Brett Pojunis.
Who came up with this dumb idea?
considering all that needs fixing , this seems like a waste of time and energy
By that logic the logo could never, ever be updated.
Yes, I agree with most of that AC. A nice, fresh, tasty branding campaign would be great. But, to do that, optimally, requires all new materials, for everyone. Those come at some cost.
Its also true that the old stuff does not become worthless. But, it is worth less, in that it does not contribute to that branding campaign. In fact, it works against it, to some extent.
Good points, Andy Craig. Iforgot the Republicans do use variants of the elephant.
“The animal logos of the establishment parties are unofficial; they have never had animal logos as their official logos, as far as I know.”
The GOP does officially use the elephant, in various stylized forms that get updated every few years. The Dems are generally more reluctant to use the donkey, and the official logo is a D in a circle in two-tone blue.
I think the design request makes clear that an update of the current Statute theme to fix the practical problems with the current one would be not only acceptable, but possibly even favored. From what I read, they’re looking for something that has either the Statue or an element thereof like the torch, the Liberty Bell, and/or a monogram design based around a capital L. Other design submissions accepted, but those are the ones specifically named as what the LNC has in mind.
I also think concerns about the cost, or costs imposed on state affiliates, are overblown. It’s not like the old logo has to be scrubbed from existence overnight and all materials bearing it have to be burned. If, as is likely, the new logo comes with a bundle of new snazzy-looking state party logos, I think more states will be inclined to appreciate the free modern-looking logo, than grumble about the costs of adopting it. And the launch of a new logo will be a useful opportunity to launch a new, up-to-date-looking branding campaign for the party, which isn’t worthless. People can still use the old one if they want, just like they can and do use the porcupine, and just like there are other Statute motif/designs already in use besides the official Lakertarians logo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C22wBf2h5k
I got 99 problems but a logo ain’t one.
As far as the two deadline, I think that can (and probably will) be extended.
Again, as I pointed out earlier, if the logo changes, that does not mean it would not be the statue.
The animal logos of the establishment parties are unofficial; they have never had animal logos as their official logos, as far as I know.
Prediction: Whatever the logo ends up being, it will do little to nothing to increase Libertarian Party membership, donations, or votes.
I too am still opposed to the logo change, but if you’re going to do so, just change it to the porcupine logo. It’s a clear libertarian method of “leave me alone”, it’s already a recognizable libertarian symbol, and animal logos have a long tradition in American politics that Libertarians shouldn’t be so quick to shun.
Bill Redpath has also made a few good points regarding the light coming from behind and hiding the face, as well as the 1971 being unnecessary.
I walked into the gas station this morning wearing an LP shirt. There was a new district manager there. He instantly recognized the logo and commented that he hadn’t seen that logo in a long time.
It is recognizable, regardless of what some say.
They should point at each other and shoot, to reflect the reality of the LP.
“I would like to see a return of the Libersign, I personally think it’s cooler looking.” – Joe Wendt
I always liked it as well but in the era of “Left- Libertarians” and “Right- Libertarians” it might be impossible to get a consensus on which way the arrow should point!
Mark Axinn can answer himself, but I don’t remember him discussing any strong preference for the current version of the statue with the face obscured, just that he wants it to be the Statue of Liberty.
99 Designs is just one of the sources for the decision process.
Oh yeah…and I am also completely against changing it. The New York chair and others have all given good reasons why there is no need to change it. The party normally just ignores the little states like South Carolina. Now it is ignoring the big states. Not very smart.
They give a couple of days for entries? Wow.
Yawn.
Oh…sorry…fell asleep…is the contest over? We’re going to have WHAT for a logo?
I think I may still be dreaming, because you don’t have a logo contest with this short of a time window to submit an entry — unless of course the outcome is rigged and the winner has already been selected unofficially before the contest even started.
I would like to see a return of the Libersign, I personally think it’s cooler looking.
I’ll go on record again opposing this. A change in the logo comes at a huge cost to the affiliates and activists. All existing LP marketing material immediately drops in value when the logo changes. Also, all of the states, if we’re to engage in effective branding, should change their logos to fit with the new LPUS image. That’s another cost. Changing the colors makes this even worse.
For a party with such limited resources, I think this is a wasteful activity. Designers would be move valuable if they spent their times making better looking brochures, website, etc.
With all of that said, I prefer to see the logo simply refreshed, rather than completely changed. This mitigates the negatives I mentioned above. It also allows us to maintain most of whatever brand recognition we’ve built up thus far.
I urge everyone to take note of the Pepsi and Subway logo changes of the last decade or so. They modernized their logos, but maintained the general feel and color scheme. Granted, those companies have a much more valuable brands then we do. But, ours is worth a lot more than zero. And the more we change it, the more short term damage we’ve done.
If a big change is coming, as seems likely, it better be really damn good. Then make we can make up for that short term damage in the long run.
As noted on past comment threads, changing the logo does not necessarily mean that the new logo would not be the statue of liberty; it may well be, but a different version of the specific design. However, there is no guarantee that it would be…nor that the current design will necessarily change.