In Brief BY Armin

In Brief: London Calling (all Designers)

The Greater London Authority (GLA) has issued a tender (or Request for Proposals for us US’ers) asking for a substantially big and complex rebranding and redesign project: London. The abbreviated version of the brief is to develop a brand that will: Create a unified brand for London / Set the vision for London post-2012 / Lead stakeholders around a shared brand / Develop international promotion into a powerful policy mechanism. The full tender, PN493/2, can be requested here. One firm responding to the tender will be Moving Brands — who did the lovely SwissCom work almost two years ago — and they have decided to make their process not just transparent but open to, and informed by, public opinion. You can follow the process at A Brand for London. And, yes, that’s one of the most important metropolis asking for free brand work.

DATE: Aug.28.2009CATEGORY: In Brief 45 COMMENTS

Rodrok’s comment is:

Seems ambitious, maybe too ambitious. I think the variety that the city currently has, brings flavor and personality to London, standardizing an overall brand might make it loose that flavor, I think that's one of the main challenges with this project.
I'm in for the challenge!

On Aug.28.2009 at 07:58 AM

Diane Faye Zerr’s comment is:

What is going on here? Melbourne paid an enormous amount for their branding and now London wants it for free?

And then designers wonder why our profession is so misunderstood.

On Aug.28.2009 at 08:00 AM

WMDunkin’s comment is:

It is an epic task to brand a city, I don't know if the timeline is really there for them to get it ready. I think they get to have a throw back to what makes London..... London.

On Aug.28.2009 at 08:45 AM

Roderick’s comment is:

Yeah... /agree Diane... I don't work for free. My time is more valuable than that.

On Aug.28.2009 at 08:48 AM

Kevin’s comment is:

An RFP is not quite the same as free work, is it?

On Aug.28.2009 at 08:51 AM

Mario ’s comment is:

The fact that they recognize the need to have a unified brand for London is refreshing. However, wanting the brand work done for free cancels out their progressive thinking. Design competitions are for suckers. Count me out. Can you guys see to it that they get this link: http://www.19dollarlogos.com . You always get what you pay for.

On Aug.28.2009 at 08:55 AM

Jared Ray Scott Ramey’s comment is:

yeah... if this work is for free its already leaving a bad taste in my mouth. but, if it were for my own city, i might do it for free out of loyalty and local recognition.

one thing i can tell you is that Moving Brands won't want to tally up the total man hours after its all said and done... it might make them sick to their collective stomach. every time a company that i have worked for has provided gratis work to a government agency or non-profit, they always push it as far as they can go... revision after revision after revision.

On Aug.28.2009 at 09:11 AM

WMDunkin’s comment is:

@ Mario

I agree you get what you pay but that website you listed not all of them at that nasty. But if whom ever does end up doing this for 'free' isn't that a tax right off?

On Aug.28.2009 at 09:58 AM

ScottyM’s comment is:

Hey, VistaPrint has a free logo system they can plug right into ...

You.Get.What.You.Pay.For Period.

And "Moving" better keep working ... something about "LONDON" in all caps with certain type treatments just looks funky.

I find it appalling that the city would request this for free. If the support team offers, fine, but to request is uncouth, unprofessional, and smacks of elitism. Oh, that's London.

On Aug.28.2009 at 10:10 AM

ScottyM’s comment is:

PS, to WMDunkin,

No way it's a tax write-off. The professional services fees, i.e., time incurred by staff, is not able to be written off. (The out-of-pocket meals, faxes, copies, postage, that kind of thing, sure.)

On Aug.28.2009 at 10:13 AM

Joseph Maguire’s comment is:

Interesting will have to bookmark this one. I do think after the 2012 london mark we'll have to pay attention.

On Aug.28.2009 at 10:33 AM

Moving Brands’s comment is:

Thanks for your interest in this.

We strongly believe this should be a democratic process - we are initiating a mass co-creation project. At the moment we are gathering thoughts and feelings, we are not trying to solve the logo/symbol debate - this will happen later...hopefully.

Just to confirm - this is our pitch attempt.

Again, thanks for the support.

MB http://bit.ly/13Ipkd

On Aug.28.2009 at 10:35 AM

Kevin’s comment is:

@Moving Brands that's what In thought. Loving the insight into the process and nice publicit stunt :P Best of luck!

It's a pitch guys, an RFP, not free work and worlds appart from a 99 designs sort of thing.

On Aug.28.2009 at 10:46 AM

Joseph Maguire’s comment is:

I saw that RAF mark and realized they could have so much fun modernizing it and de-militarizing it. Idea #1: http://www.elephantik.com/ads/london.gif

On Aug.28.2009 at 10:53 AM

Camryn Brown’s comment is:

Most, if not all, of the current plethora of brands are strong in their own right. I don't really think there's any identity crisis here.

Also, not all of those identities are under the the control of the GLA.

Finally, although it may make sense to have one outward facing brand it does not make sense to have only one inward facing brand... the citizenry needs to distinguish and recognize different services that they may need more than it needs to know it's all part of London (which is somewhat obvious).

On Aug.28.2009 at 11:09 AM

Tom Petty’s comment is:

I don't believe the city of London are asking for free work, but that one of the businesses pitching is 'gathering information' from Londoners. It's not, in my opinion any kind of damaging competition, but it will be interesting if it veers that way (Moving Brands this is, i'm sure there will be plenty of private agencies pitching their work the traditional way)

On Aug.28.2009 at 11:09 AM

Rodrigo Müller’s comment is:

are students allowed?

On Aug.28.2009 at 11:33 AM

Kevin Tucker’s comment is:

Where does it say they're "asking for free brand work"?!? Looks like it's just an rfp to me...

On Aug.28.2009 at 12:09 PM

Jef Nickerson’s comment is:

The Moving Brands blog is a great insight into process. I've added it to my RSS and am looking forward to watching what they do. Thanks for pointing us to it Armin.

On Aug.28.2009 at 12:40 PM

Prescott Perez-Fox’s comment is:

I was under the impression that the project was worth £600,000 to the winning agency. Are the shortlisted firms going to be paid for their pitches?

http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline/Design/News/924891/Mayor-Boris-Johnson-hunts-agencies-rebrand-London/

I'm interested to see what they come up with, of course.

On Aug.28.2009 at 01:17 PM

krhainos’s comment is:

Just set everything in Gill Sans. Crisis averted!

On Aug.28.2009 at 02:14 PM

Spike’s comment is:

SwissCom work lovely? It's a hot mess. Ugly as sin. Looks like a bad sex change operation.

On Aug.28.2009 at 02:15 PM

Mark’s comment is:

It will be interesting what they will come up with.

On Aug.28.2009 at 05:46 PM

Andrea’s comment is:

http://www.no-spec.com/

On Aug.28.2009 at 05:46 PM

Neil Martin’s comment is:

I've said it on a previous blog, but I see no reason at all why "Think London" could not be used for this rebrand. It's a fantastic logo that needs more exposure.

On Aug.28.2009 at 05:59 PM

Couchideas’s comment is:

Look at the presentation here http://www.simplescott.com/files/london/

I am london...?

Look at this introduced couple of years ago http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/visitingportal

hihi...

Greetings from Amsterdam

On Aug.28.2009 at 07:07 PM

Couchideas’s comment is:

Oh, and in my opinion. Just go with saffron's spot on work.

Just expand this Brand Architecture: http://saffron-consultants.com/featured-work/archives/visit-london/

On Aug.28.2009 at 07:18 PM

ScottyM’s comment is:

that "i am london" look is not solid, at all. Surely it's a joke.

Not even in the same stratosphere of iamsterdam.

I agree with Couch ... the Visit London work is stellar.

On Aug.29.2009 at 07:44 AM

john’s comment is:

London wants this done pro bono?

Frankly, I hope this results in an even bigger embarrassment for The City than 2012.

I've got no problem with pro bono for worthy causes. London is not a worthy cause. For shame.

On Aug.29.2009 at 10:03 PM

Tom Petty’s comment is:

John, i think you may have misunderstood. I don't see where London are asking for this work to be done for free?

On Aug.30.2009 at 03:53 AM

Googe’s comment is:

Hey Armin.
Thanks for the post - I hadn't heard about this yet.

However, from what I can see, they're not asking for free brand work, they're just asking for applications from agencies to be invited to pitch for the work.

Seems completely normal to me?

On Aug.30.2009 at 05:34 PM

Ben’s comment is:

I still can't believe they're actually using that logo for 2012.

On Aug.30.2009 at 07:00 PM

Gene’s comment is:

I see your points on why we shouldn't be doing work for free, but in this case, I feel that if your idea does get picked up, it'd be a nice gem in your portfolio, no?

On Aug.30.2009 at 08:27 PM

Kevin’s comment is:

Sorry to be a nag, but reading these comments is a bit like pulling teeth. Do people even read what others have posted?

IT'S NOT FREE WORK, IT'S AN RFP!!!

ok, carry on...

On Aug.31.2009 at 11:20 AM

Darrel’s comment is:

I don't quite understand the Moving Brands blog. Are they preparing a pitch for the project while at the same time asking the general public to also submit logo ideas? That seems odd.

But, that said, I think the very first design submitted to the Moving Brands blog is perfect:

On Aug.31.2009 at 01:48 PM

Darrel’s comment is:

I just read more of the comments. To (possibly) clarify the 'free work' confusion: I don't think London is asking for free work, but rather Moving Brands is.

With the recent CP+B Crowdsourcing thing, maybe this is a trend. :/

On Aug.31.2009 at 01:51 PM

Mike Erickson’s comment is:

Of Course Darrel. Then they get credit for the final piece.

ME

On Aug.31.2009 at 02:05 PM

MIchael Johnson’s comment is:

Hello everyone
Yes, they are asking for unpaid ideas
Yours
Michael Johnson
johnson banks

On Sep.01.2009 at 02:13 AM

london airport transfers’s comment is:

London, here I come! and I won't be taking the tube from the airport to the hotel, but a cool and nice black cab. heh

On Sep.02.2009 at 11:48 AM

Jensonb’s comment is:

Branding London? Whatever happened to LondOn. I thought they were unifying on that?

At any rate, I can't see a reasonable way to unify all of London's various services under one brand without losing any subtle way of designating those individual services.

On Sep.02.2009 at 05:49 PM

Santa’s comment is:

Good luck to those who take on this project. I was not impressed with Moving Brands "Swisscom" logo. It looks crazy and strange. It does not look like something that was refined and designed but instead put together by a group of people who could not settle on one idea so combined all their efforts into one mark that looks like many marks. It actually looks more like a warped guitar or violin.

On Sep.02.2009 at 11:02 PM

silas amos’s comment is:

We think the moving brands bid deserves to win for being both savvy and for its creative use of online to build some excitement - here's why...

http://www.jkr.co.uk/design-gazette/

On Sep.03.2009 at 04:01 AM

Chris Zodrow’s comment is:

An RFP (Request for Proposal) is not a request for free work, it is simply the first necessary step in the bureaucratic and legal structure of a government contract. This is normal. We send them out all the time to get bids on project briefs. Government agencies are required to do this so as to avoid nepotism or cronyism. It is a safeguard against abuses.

So, bring it down to frantic bruv.

On Sep.04.2009 at 02:19 PM

yelena’s comment is:

http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline/Design/News/924891/Mayor-Boris-Johnson-hunts-agencies-rebrand-London/

"Mayor Boris Johnson and his team have allocated a budget of £600,000 to create a new logo and identity for the city ahead of the 2012 Olympics, and want to have this in place by next spring."

//

i'm interested to see what happens. . .

On Sep.09.2009 at 01:00 PM

Jason Schwartz’s comment is:

@Couchideas’s

"Oh, and in my opinion. Just go with saffron's spot on work."
http://saffron-consultants.com/featured-work/archives/visit-london/

Dude, I am totally with you.

Saffron killed it with this project and their ID work for London is spectacular. Even if you check out their "alternate concepts" I would feel good about any of those (except the box with the hands ;)

I say bring back Saffron for an expanded ID system.

On Sep.24.2009 at 03:36 PM