GAP Logo contest: Stage 2 guidelines for designers

Here is some additional information for all logo designers based on questions we got. Don’t hesitate to ask us further questions!

Q: What will the voters see?

This is our current plan. current plan. If you have suggestions or concerns, please let us know,

  1. each design will be assigned a unique code (say “A1”, “B2”, “C3”, …)
  2. each time the page is reloaded the order of designs will be randomized to minimize order bias
  3. designs will be anonymous, again to minimize bias (but we will acknowledge all contributors and contributions at the winner announcement and thank you all publicly once voting is over)
  4. we will show pixel (non-vector) versions of all logos to avoid rendering difference
  5. for each design there will be a table with
    • the full logo with text “Groups, Algorithm, Programming”
      • limited in height to perhaps 150 to 200 pixel (we can’t be quite precise since some designs are squarish, some are wider than high, or vice-versa; we’ll try to generate “fair” renderings from the high-res version you are supposed to send us)
    • the logo without additional text
      • you can either provide this to us (if you want custom tweaks) or else we’ll generate it by cropping your full logo version)
    • a 128x128 variant (e.g. for app icons)
    • a 32x32 variant (e.g. for website favicon)
  6. All of the above will be shown once on white/light background, and a second time on black/dark background.
    • You are encouraged to also submit “dark mode” variants of some or all of the above tailored to look better on dark backgrounds.
    • Otherwise we will just use the same image on both kinds of backgrounds
    • This can be fine if e.g. you have a solid background in your design; many university logos employ such “protective areas” for their logos, e.g. https://www.tu-darmstadt.de, https://www.tu-braunschweig.de, https://www.rwth-aachen.de, …
    • You could also switch some colors in dark mode, or put “outlines” around some of your design, or …
  7. The table will leave space around each image, so you don’t need to include borders in your images (though you may want to if e.g. your design includes a “protective area”)

Q: Can I submit multiple variants?

Short answer: no, you need to decide which version of the logo (including font and color choices) you want to put forward as your “best” one.

That said, we are willing to give some limited feedback if you want to show us a draft of your designs. We’d mostly like to focus this on technical aspects (“is this format OK?”, “can you verify this looks reasonable in your environment on dark background”, etc.)

When it comes to questions about variants we are reluctant to comment because this is highly subjective and each committee member has their own preference and “secret” favorite designs, and while we really try our best to be fair and impartial, it is difficult to exclude subconscious bias.

That said, it is OK to ask but we may decline to comment

Q: Which font should I use?

We do not have a standard font for GAP, so you have a lot of freedom here. But if possible it should be an open source font, but in any case free to use for us (no licensing restrictions). A site with many good free fonts is e.g. https://bestfreefonts.com.

A font can convey many things and feelings, and you may wish to take that into account (e.g. a serif font is often considered to feel more “organic” while sans-serif is more “technical”). For some ideas on this topic, see e.g. https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/font-psychology-emotions/