Logo Contest Winner Selected!
On Thursday, October 29, at 6:30PM EDT, the jury met at MidAtlantic Restaurant – just a few steps from the NextFab Studio facility, to decide the outcome of our $1000 Logo Design Contest.
The jury was presented glossy prints of 15 designs by the 10 finalist designers selected by NFS management.
After lengthy discussion of the core activities and goals of NextFab Studio, the jury found that design #438 by designer “lazariucas” is eye-catching, adaptable, has a rugged building-block appeal, and is a bit difficult to decipher at first: it takes a moment to recognize the pattern and read the logo, but we like solving puzzles – don’t you? Even better – our new logo contains an optical illusion! Look at where the white lines cross – do you see gray or black dots? This is the “blinking buttons” illusion. Want to learn more?
The drive to understand and to solve problems – and to help others learn how to solve their own problems – motivated us to start NextFab Studio. We expect it will the be common thread running through the very diverse members of the NFS community. The jurors detected this theme, as did at least one of the designers who participated in the contest, and for this we’re grateful.
About the winner:
Lazariuc Vadim (lazariucas) was born on 14 June 1983, in Ungheni City, Republic of Moldova. He is a graduate of the Technical University of Moldova (the only higher technical educational institution in the Republic of Moldova), from the school of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics, with a degree in Informational Technologies. He currently works as a network administrator and web designer.
Ungheni, Moldova – View Larger Map
About the jurors, and their thoughts on the winner:
Jonathan Butko, executive director of strategy and innovation, at Medici Global, award winning, 13 year veteran designer, former owner and creative director of Philadelphia/Prague design studio Lucid Circus.
- “Initially I had concerns that this mark’s formal qualities would render it dated rather quickly. After further exploration with the panel and a more thorough understanding of NextFab’s objectives it was revealed to me that this mark was the right choice based on the final selections. It became clear that its seemingly endless functional adaptations along with the NextFab communities’ individual applications of meaning would work to build a brand that transcends mediums, bridges disciplines, and breaks free of geographical location.”
Geoff DiMasi, principal of P’unk Avenue design and development firm, adjunct assistant professor of Multimedia and Industrial Design at The University of the Arts, and founder of Philadelphia’s Junto salon.
- “I favored the logo we picked since it spoke to fabrication without being obvious. It communicated without being boring and blunt. It was memorable. It provided a flexible system that you can play with across multiple mediums. And, it seemed to be a visual framework that can evolve over time, if you choose.”
Alex Hillman, community and technology innovator, blogger and professional problem-solver, co-founder of Independents Hall, Philadelphia’s coworking space and community, and IndyHallLabs, its associated open-source R&D lab.
- “While the logo wasn’t my first pick initially, my gravitation towards it as we talked through the message of each logo was charged mostly by the robustness of the logo. As I said out loud a bunch of times, “I feel like I could hit this logo with a hammer and it’d be fine”. I also love the fact that the logo itself could easily be made into a physical object, like a rubber keychain.”
Neil Kleinman, professor of Multimedia and Communication, Senior Fellow in the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at The University of the Arts, and champion of Philadelphia’s future.
- “The logo we selected has a remarkable amount of flexibility. It was among a very few that would allow placement in a variety of settings/uses – envelopes, letterhead, print, t-shirt, and signage. As an illustration of “fab” construction, it seems ideal: it looks as though it can be used in a “deconstructed” form – as a puzzle and a keyfob, etc. And it looks as though it can be re-packaged with relative ease – changing the color contrasts, adding/subtracting text elements, changing the figure/ground of the central image – “FAB.” Finally, what was especially appealing was that its meaning took a moment to decode. It is one of those logos that attracts the eye because there is an internal dynamic to the design and a meaning that is not immediately obvious.”
