ROME — Calling all graphic designers: the Order’s Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation and its Animation Committee are sponsoring a contest to create a logo that will “help attract people’s attention and highlight the work we do as Franciscans to promote justice, peace and care for creation,” according to the contest proposal.
Joseph Rozansky, OFM, director of the Order’s JPIC office, asks that friars share this information with those who might be interested in entering the contest. “Help those who would like to participate to understand better our charism, our values, and our commitment to promoting JPIC in today’s world,” he said in a recent email
Effective Logos
To help create an appealing logo, the office encourages applicants to keep in mind the following qualities:
1. Logos are simple and need to work well in both black and white and colored ink. They also need to work in different sizes.
2. Good logos are aesthetically pleasing and eye catching.
3. A logo should communicate an idea, a principle or a description.
4. Because people are visual beings, a logo should not be monotonous.
Effective logos might use an ideogram — a sign or icon — or an emblem, and might also include the name of the entity in question. “Color is another important element, and different colors are associated with specific emotions or ideas,” according to the proposal. “For example, loud colors attract attention and green is used for health, hygiene or ecology.”
Artists creating a logo should have some knowledge of human behavior. “People recognize and react to color, shapes, lines, fonts and other symbolic forms with emotions tied to their experiences,” according to the proposal. “Their minds have been trained to recognize the motion of a line. Horizontal lines often communicate security. Vertical lines convey dignity. Diagonal lines are full of energy, suggesting rising or falling, or movement in one direction or another.”
The Proposal
As they design a logo, artists are encouraged to keep the following reflection about JPIC values — taken from the Order’s “Guidelines for the Animation of JPIC” — in mind:
Justice, peace and integrity of creation are above all values of the kingdom of God. As such, God himself is involved in and committed to the task of making the world a place that is just and reconciled, providing a dignified life to all creatures. St. Francis was aware of God’s mission as creator, liberator and redeemer. To understand the structures of JPIC in the Order, it is essential once again to recall that JPIC is a spirituality centered in God’s plan of life for all creation, and we are invited to collaborate in this project. It is nourished by discovery of the compassionate and merciful face of the God of Jesus. This God is revealed in history and encountered in the reality of the people and things around us. It blossoms from a desire to follow Jesus with compassion in a world that is unjust, broken and violent. It arises from the need to discern the signs of life that the Spirit is birthing today.
The office and committee ask that entries be submitted to pax@ofm.org by the end of October 2013. The committee will choose the best entry, and the winning logo will become the property of the JPIC Office in Rome. The artist will receive a letter of recognition from the General Minister, along with a statue of St. Francis of Assisi.
— Maria Hayes is communications coordinator for Holy Name Province.