It’s been five years since Anthill’s inaugural Cool Company Awards.
Initially launched as a ‘piss-take’ to poke fun at a plethora of magazine award programs at the time, the ‘cools’ were quickly (and unexpectedly) embraced by Anthill readers… with the force and finesse of Arthur Fonzarilli’s fist on a dukebox. (Ehhhhh!)
Our launch logo attracted both fans and critics, inspired by the now iconic promotional poster for Reservoir Dogs and Anthill’s eighth print magazine edition in February 2005. Five years on, however, the logo is beginning to look… well… less like it was influenced by Quentin Tarantino and more like it was designed by a reader of Quentin Blake!
In other words, it’s in need of a makeover, and we need your help!
Crowdsourcing ‘cool’
In the spirit of crowdsourcing (and supporting a new Aussie disruptor), we put our heads together at Anthill HQ and a solution was reached… just in time for our first nominations drive for 2011. (Here. Yes, click here to nominate.)
We decided to shell out $295 to commission a new logo design through Sydney-based DesignCrowd. DesignCrowd, on learning of our intent, also came to the party, adding a further $200 to the tab.
However, it wasn’t long before we stumbled upon our first dilemma.
A crowdsourced anything is only ever as good as the brief. And this is where we quickly found ourselves stuck.
It might sound a tad New Age, but it seems to us that ‘cool’ is usually something felt, rather than seen. It might also sound a tad postmodern, but ‘cool’ can equally be defined by what it’s not. Furthermore, the concept of ‘cool’ is highly subjective, meaning different things to different people.
These are obstacles that we’ve managed to overcome with the awards (somehow) but not, so far, with our attempts to define, refine and choose a logo. So, instead, we’re putting this responsibility into your hands.
Help us define cool… in visual form
We’re calling on you, Anthill readers, to answer this not-so-simple question:
If you were given the job of drafting a design brief, what imagery and references would you submit to epitomise cool? (Pictures, things and feelings)
Of course, we’ll be taking your suggestions and submitting them to DesignCrowd’s small army of designers. But, more importantly, once we’ve shortlisted a handful, we’ll be returning for your esteemed opinions — casting a vote to decide this year’s logo.
Is this dangerous? Heck yeah. We could end up with Mr Splashy Pants as our icon. But safe is never particularly fun (and has never been part of our modus operandi). And if you want to nominate your company for this year’s awards, click here, but not until after you’ve shared your suggestion below. It’s cool to share, right?
So, what images and references do you think epitomise cool? We’ll also be dishing our prizes from the Anthill ‘schwag’ box that we find particularly… well… cool.
