June 16, 1999
Tim Fitzpatrick, Press Secretary
Committee on Arrangements
2000 Republican National Convention
One South Broad at 1345 Chestnut Street, Suite 1830
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Dear Mr. Fitzpatrick:
One of our members has passed on to us a copy of your letter soliciting submissions for a logo design for the 2000 Republican National Convention. Although we recognize that our letter will not reach you in time for you to act upon it, we believe it is important to express our concern about requests of this kind.
I enclose a copy of the Graphic Artists Guild’s Guidelines for Contests and Competitions, created in 1992 under the aegis of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Guidelines, which are designed to ensure that competitions benefit both the artists who enter them and the sponsors who hold them, cover eligibility, rights, judging procedures, speculative work, and compensation. Your competition fails to meet the standards set by the Guidelines in several respects:
- Asking design professionals to submit logo designs on a speculative basis is contrary to industry practice and threatens the financial integrity of working artists. You require interested parties to forego income-producing projects on the slim chance of being awarded a commission. In asking for speculative work, you discourage submissions from the talented and experienced designers who are most likely to provide the caliber of work for which you are looking. Finally, your decision to open your competition to non-professionals, however well-meaning, demeans the design profession and those who’ve dedicated their working lives to its practice.
- Although the 2000 Republican National Convention logo will clearly be used for merchandising and other valuable purposes, you offer no compensation either for the design or even for expenses incurred in its preparation.
- There is apparently no provision for the logo designer to receive credit for his or her work.
It is particularly unfortunate that such a request comes from the Republican Party, which we would expect to be sensitive to the needs of individual entrepreneurs. I hope that in the future, the Republican Party will take a leadership roles in demonstrating respect for professional artists.
We look forward to your response and hope to hear from you at the earliest opportunity.
Sincerely,
Paul Basista, CAE
Executive Director
