Volga Artist Wins Logo Contest

The Brookings Arts Council’s (BAC) mission is to encourage community connections in the arts by providing a supportive environment for awareness, appreciation and participation. And now they have a new logo that reflects those ideals.

Jeff Sampson, Volga, put together the winning combination in their recent logo contest sponsored by the BAC. Eight artists from Brookings, Volga, and Sioux Falls, as well as students from the University of Sioux Falls and SDSU submitted designs.

The winning design is a simple vertical alignment of the letters b, a, and c in brick-red with the art council’s name to the right of the letters.

"The inspiration of the logo came from the idea that the council provides the means to achieve goals. While traveling the path of the b, a, and c, your goals can be realized," Sampson said. "The path is also not as simple as it first appears; there are multiple ways to travel the path as not every artist is able to navigate their goals in the same way."

As winner Sampson received a $100 cash prize and a one-year membership to the Brookings Arts Council.

The board of directors of the BAC came up with the idea to replace the seven-year-old former black and white logo. According to executive director Vicki Schuster, the board was looking for consistency in marketing with a design suitable for everything from letterheads to business cards to newsletters.

"The goal was to experiment with colors to create a logo that would be instantly identifiable," Schuster said.

"Our organization is proud of the level of local interest we had in this competition. We found there is an abundant amount of capable talent within a 45-mile radius of Brookings," Schuster said.

The BAC sent contest notifications to 1,500 South Dakota artists and designers. The main objective was that each logo must contain the words "Brookings Arts Council."

Jennifer Widman was past chairperson of the BAC publicity committee and team leader for the logo project.

"Everyone on the committee really enjoyed seeing the fresh new ideas the various designers came up with. The submissions ranged from classic and elegant to playful and fun. The whole selection process prompted us to think in new ways about what the Brookings Arts Council stands for and how we can represent that visually," Widman said.

Technical assistance from individuals at SDSU contributed to the overall success of the competition.

"I would like to thank Tim Steele of the SDSU Visual Art Department and the SDSU Corporate Identity class for helping us through this important process," Schuster said. "Their interest and commitment in getting us to the end result has been invaluable to our organization."

"I’m very excited about the vibrancy and versatility of this design. One can look at the curved path of the letters and be reminded of the journeys the arts can take us on," said Widman. "I think it represents the many facets of the BAC well."

For more info, contact Grives at (605) 688-4616.

Media Contact: Vicki Schuster or Victoria Riggs at (605) 692-4177 or by email artscouncil@brookings.net.