Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Chaminade University Silverswords

Quick question for all the logo designers out there. What would you ask in return to design a new logo and brand for a Division II college that gets a lot of national exposure for one week each season? Would a trip to Maui, tickets to the Maui Invitational and $200 spending money do it for you?

Well if it does, then I have good news for you. Chaminade University in Honolulu is holding a contest to design their new athletics logo. The winner gets everything above or $500 in cash. The contest is open to anyone 18 years or older and submissions must be received by September 1st.

If you decide to take the challenge, you have quite a bit to work with. I love the Silverswords as a nickname and the possible imagery that you can derive from that name, both abstract and literal, is endless.

On the literal end, the Silversword is a beautiful plant that grows only on Maui's volcano Haleakala that only blooms once every twenty years with one big flower. But one of the requirements is that the logo have the possibility in the future of a mascot tie-in so they are basically asking for an abstraction of the literal.

I'd be willing to bet, or at least hoping, that what they are looking for is a mixture of both done in a classy, conservative, Hawaiian way.

But is the reward enough to get what they are looking for? This is a pretty good opportunity for a young, up-and-coming or, perhaps, amateur designer, but I doubt that many professionals will be lining up for the opportunity. Maybe I'm wrong. I might take a stab at it just for kicks. It's enough of a reward for me but I know I won't win.

No matter what happens, it will be an improvement over what they use now. Notice that I didn't add a logo to this post? That's because they don't really have one. They just use the university crest when needed.

For more information, here's the press release and here's the PDF flyer. If you do submit a logo for the contest, I would love to see it. I swear that I won't share it with anybody.


Team: Chaminade University Silverswords
League: Pacific West Conference - incidentally, one of my favorite league logos
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii - Not Lahaina like I thought when I visited Maui. You should have seen the look on the lady in Lahaina's face when I asked her where the college was. They just play the tournament there.

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