Don't mess with our gridz...When we first received the announcement that the North Charleston Coliseum & Performing Arts Center was holding a logo design contest and that the winner would receive 2 tickets to an unnamed event, some lukewarm PR, and 50 bucks worth of popcorn, we were all over it! (Not). But when we received forward after forward of the same announcement from various friends and colleagues, our sarcasm turned to resentment. It seemed that Coliseum was basically devaluing the services provided by our local design community. However, after digging a little deeper, it appears that the intent was to create a sense of patron involvement in promoting the Coliseum rather than to poop on area professionals. Whatever - we're over it.

Things really got interesting on Monday though when the P&C ran an article about the controversy that included a quote from Gil Shuler, Charleston's very own living legend in the graphic arts world. The 55+ user comments that ensued have revealed the huge disparity in the public's perception of the value of good design, effectively questioning our entire livelihood!

This is the challenge we are all facing now, the need to educate and enlighten our clients on the need, the value, and even (dare I say it!) the "return on investment" of working with a creative professional. To see the original article and the ongoing comments, clic here.