The Columbus 2025 initiative is calling on local graphic designers to help create a new logo geared toward attracting talented people to the Fountain City. The logo will serve under the city’s #WeDoAmazing brand family.
The initiative was largely responsible for the development of the infamous “We Do Amazing” logo, which made headlines quickly after its debut. The Muckraker has previously published a story discussing the logo’s creation.
The open Request For Proposal lists a due date of August 5, 2022 and offers a budgetary range from $1,000 to $3,500 in total compensation for the entire project.
The price point appears very low given the requirements stated within the RFP.
For monetary context, the development of the “We Do Amazing” brand identity had a price tag of roughly $75,000. A derivative work designed to fall inside that brand family could easily be expected to cost half that amount, or roughly $35,000; a full ten times the price expected by Columbus 2025’s RFP.
The document also mandates that contracted work be performed under a work-for-hire scenario; a jargonous business term which often equates to the loss of any and all intellectual property created by the design team throughout the entirety of the project — whether it is used by the client or not.
A work-for-hire agreement is very seldom agreed to by the sort of professional contractual designers sought by Columbus 2025, especially on projects with such a small production budget. Often, designers only accept work-for-hire scenarios when a large monetary premium is offered for the work, since a work-for-hire almost always requires the surrender of all intellectual property. This completely limits the designer’s ability to claim attribution, license their work, or even display it within their portfolio. The surrender of those rights often do not come cheaply.
It is also unusual that the RFP would require a work-for-hire scenario while also assuming the designer would be utilizing staff and/or subcontractors, which is also expected by the language of the RFP. A requirement listed within the document calls for “a list of staff/subcontractors that will likely be part of the development team (if applicable).”
Most professional designers would need to create new agreements with their own staff and subcontractors to meet the scope of this RFP. It is unlikely that a professional designer would go to such lengths for a job worth no more than $3,500.
The RFP also specifies that the designer will only have 2-3 weeks to complete the entirety of the work; a lengthy process that requires discovery, concept development, presentation, and multiple rounds of revisionary work. The listed timeframe of 2-3 weeks is well below the perceived norm for a work of this magnitude. To meet such a timeframe would likely require a design team of superb professional skill to yield truly professional, high-quality results. Again, this criteria is unlikely to be met, as a professional design team likely would not be attracted to the $3,500 gross revenue capped by the RFP. A professional firm would likely spend thousands on quality staff to meet the timeline alone.
For the level of professionalism required by their RFP, one would expect a more realistic compensation capable of producing quality results.
Many in the comments of the initiative’s facebook post have already resorted to suggesting college students should perform the work.
The Columbus 2025 initiative has certainly set the bar quite high without recognizing the naivete of their expectations. Let’s hope the final-delivered results are more diligent than the RFP — but one often gets what one pays for.
You can view the complete RFP from Columbus 2025 through their DropBox here.
