The ‘Shoot Relents

One Reel calls off a Bumbershoot competition that pissed off the design community.

As we reported here last week (“Bumbershoot’s Design Flaw,” May 26), One Reel managed to get the local graphic-design community up in arms with its plans for an open, on-spec competition to create a new permanent logo for the Bumbershoot festival.

The prize for the winner: a festival pass, and no money. The reward for the losers: hours of wasted labor.

Well, the festival announced on Friday that it is abandoning the competition, after discussions with board members of the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

Instead, One Reel is inviting artists to come up with their “interpretation of the Festival’s 40-year history.” You can submit your entry as a jpeg, and all submissions will be displayed on the Bumbershoot website. The winner of an online popular vote will get those Gold Passes.

In the announcement, AIGA Seattle President Jeff Barlow thanked the festival for listening.