Scots free-pitch row deepens

Renfrewshire District Council in Scotland is following Fife Council in holding an open free-pitch for a new identity.

Renfrewshire is offering a prize of 1000 to the winner, but will not pay for unsuccessful submissions.

“We’ve sent letters to design consultancies, educational establishments and community centres,” says a spokeswoman for the council. The deadline for concepts is 31 March.

Fife triggered outrage among Scottish graphics consultancies last year when it announced a Scotland-wide free-pitch (DW 15 December 1995). The 115 entries received have now been whittled down to four.

It is now favouring two logo concepts, one each designed by in-house graphic designers Freya Mackie and David King. Midlothian consultancy Gardiner Russell Associates and Glasgow’s Legend Design Consultants each submitted a concept.

All four have been reproduced in Fife Council’s newsletter which invites telephone votes from the public. “The in-house designs are ahead in the public poll,” confirms a Fife spokeswoman.

She adds: “Everyone was aware from the start that this was a speculative pitch. That’s the way it works”.

Meanwhile, Tayburn McIlroy Coates has created three logo concepts for West Lothian Council, which have been printed in the local press in order to elicit public reactions. A decision is expected this week.

The consultancy was appointed after a credentials pitch.