BGA Logo Competition

Background

In November 2023 the BGA’s clubs survey reported that much of the BGA’s published material was considered to look outdated, and in some cases was no longer considered useful (e.g. leaflets could be replaced with QR codes on business cards). Refreshing this publicity material will be beneficial for both the BGA more widely, and clubs looking to attract new members, as well as ensuring that the BGA’s image is modernised. In addition to the published material, the BGA website also looks outdated and can be tricky to navigate for those who are not used to it. In an age of social media, the online presentation of an organisation such as the BGA is key to success and building a strong membership base. Given this, the desire to generally modernise the BGA's image, and the acknowledged need to update the website, it makes sense to take this moment to consider redesigning of the logo. The current logo has been in place for over 20 years and is no doubt recognisable and familiar to many, yet it presents a natural starting point for graphic redesign, and can act as a springboard for future, integrated work. The graphic style, colour scheme, and overall aesthetic of the new logo can provide a coherent structure upon which to base the website, social media image, and future publications.

Following the end of the competition and announcement of a winner the board will consider subsequent steps in more detail, but there is no fixed timescale for any such redesign work. It should also be highlighted that there is no requirement as a result of this competition to change the logo if no better options are submitted, and redesigning of other elements can take place irrespective of changing the logo. However, holding a competition such as this is an opportunity for the BGA to engage with, and demonstrate representation of, a new generation of Go players around the country.

Brief

As the winning logo design will ultimately form the basis of a graphic redesign of much of the BGA’s published materials, it needs to be clear and legible, make clear reference to the BGA (or the British Go Association), and be recognisably related to the game of Go. However, besides this there are no specific requirements about the style, or what is included.

By way of example, something that is simple enough to easily animate will make it easier to incorporate into videos; something without a block colour background might make it easier to overlay on other forms of media such as posters; a design which overemphasises text rather than graphics may be less eye-catching and harder to understand for non-Go players. All of these suggestions may have their own drawbacks as well, of course, but utility should be a major factor, in addition to looks.

There are many tools available for design work such as this but for those unfamiliar with them we can recommend Canva, which is a free application allowing the creation of basic graphic designs, and there are many online tutorials for how to use it. Hand drawn entries are welcome as well, although please ensure good quality of any scans or photographs so that they can be appropriately judged and digitised should they win.

Rules

Submissions

• Submissions should be through this Google Form.
• You must provide a full name and contact email address in order to enter. In order to upload a file to the form, your email must first be linked to a google account. This is easy to do with a pre-existing email and instructions can be found here.
• If you are not able to access the form but would still like to enter, please contact sbithell.go@gmail.com
• Submissions will be anonymised for the purposes of judging. As of 1st September, multiple designs are now allowed per person.
• Entry into the competition is open to anyone, however the final vote will only be open to the membership of the BGA.
• The submission deadline is 12:00pm on the 1st November 2024, after this deadline the form will be closed and no further submissions will be accepted.
• Please do not enter more than once. If you upload more than one file you will be contacted in order to confirm which you wish to enter officially. If this is not confirmed within 2 weeks of the submission deadline then neither entry will be counted.
• The BGA will be sole owner of the copyright to the winning entry, but the winner will be recorded as the originator of the design in perpetuity.

File Upload

• Submissions can be as any normal image format (e.g. jpg, png, tif, bmp, etc.) and of a suitable resolution for judging (minimum 96 dpi).
• There is a maximum upload file size limit of 1GB, but this is a limit, not a target.

Judging

• A shortlist will be decided on by the board no later than the 1st December.
• The board reserves the right to declare that there has not been a winner and either to close the competition, or to re-open the competition for further entries.
• Any vote by the membership will be completed no later than 3 months after the shortlist is announced and the winning entry will be announced shortly thereafter, except in the case where the competition has been reopened when the new voting deadline will be announced accordingly.