THE APPRENTICE: Final Challenge

[pollux]

Final Challenge - World Cup 2018 logo

Participants: ColaCock and bruschimania

You need to create the final logo for World Cup 2018. You also have to choose from one of the confirmed bidding nations:

• Australia
  
• Belgium / Netherlands / Luxembourg
  
• Portugal / Spain
  
• Qatar
  
• Russia
  

The only required element is the logo.

Deadline

Every participant must turn in their work before Sunday, October 26th, 2008, 11:59PM EDT. Any participant who either turn in their work after the deadline or do not turn in anything will automatically be fired.

Voting for this last challenge will start on Monday morning in a new topic, and will end on Friday, October 31th, 2008, 11:59PM EDT.

Again, voting will be open to any member of this community who has more than 500 posts and has been around here for at least six months. A brief summary of strong and weak points are required for each entry. The verdict from each judge will have the top three entries seeded. Any judge who does not comply with this will see their vote nullified.

Can a mod unpin Challenge 9 and pin this one?

[maz]

This is going to be epic.

[pollux]

Bumping this up to get it pinned.

[Cola]

I present to you the 2018 World Cup logo package for candidate nation: Spain.

The logo is an attempt to revert back to the simplicity and bold elements of World Cup logos of the past. A stylized soccer ball is the lone focal point of the design that features quick border strokes and 3 colors that have been associated with Spanish history: red, purple, and yellow. The wordmark is intended to flow with the logo but also differs from very recent World Cup logos in that it does not explicitly say "World Cup 2018". I felt the widespread use of the logo alone should be powerful enough to personify the whole "World Cup" image- which I felt must have been along the same line of thinking as the older Cup logos of Mexico, Argentina, and Italy.

A small selection of event clothing accompanies the package.

[mania]

For the final submission in the Apprentice Challenge, I have decided to do Qatar, and draw on the inspiration of Aladdin's Magical Lamp, the story from One Thousand and One Nights. If you rub the right lamp, perhaps the lamp adorned with what has become the official emblem for the World Cup, being used all century in competitions, and you might get your one true wish, World Cup glory. Don't let it's ordinary appearance fool you, because sometimes, you are looking for the diamond in the rough...

[gingerbreadmann]

I don't think an explanation is necessary.

(okay fine, cause having two disqualified votes is embarassing.)

Cola, unlike last time, I think you have far exceeded the expectations here. Just looking at it it feels like the World Cup is actually coming and that's the logo and I can see it immediately on all the merch. Seriously, that's probably the most impressive submission in this entire tournament for me.

Bruschi: Well played, you procrastinator.

[Please God let your entry not be serious like I think it isn't, if it is, 1000 apologies =D]

[DDR]

Cola's design. Well thought out, well designed, well rendered, well presented. I love the logo. It says everything you need and want it to say. The color choices were all good ones, and the font is a nice nod to the culture without going overboard into the expected, caricaturish realm. My only gripe is that I don't think it works that well as a Black and White logo, but that's not a deal breaker.

Bruschi's design. Thought it was an interesting starting point, but whereas I praised Cola for playing off the culture without going overboard, I think this design has done just that. I think the logo paired with the wordmark looks a little cartoonish.

To me, the choice is clear. ColaCock gets my vote.

[chestnutz]

Cola - I don't share the same love for the logo as the other two have. I think it's because that style of grunge-brush kind of logo has been used quite often lately (Beijing 08 I believe too). Yet, it does very much look like a logo the World Cup would actually use. The wordmark fits the logo perfectly, great job on that, and it is very well represented on the shirts. Solid job.

bruschi - Extremely disappointing. It really looks like you made this at 11 pm sunday, turning it in 59 minutes later. The strokes are not constant at all, the ball looks forced, the lines on the lamp don't flow, and the font looks like one you just found off of dafont and did nothing to. Sorry, but I was looking forward to much more.

Winner: ColaCock

[pollux]

ColaCock - The logo is really inline with the World Cups of the 2000s. I really like its simplicity and the implied football. Love the colors. Very solid overall logo.

bruschimania - I like the idea of tying the culture with the logo, but the execution is too similar to a cartoon for my taste. Qatar was a tough country to use for this final challenge.

Verdict: ColaCock.

[Steve-O]

ColaCock, in a landslide.

[mania]

I really have to admit, I thought I had a solid concept, however, the execution really wasn't what I wanted. As it was looking more and more likely like my final submission wasn't looking how I wanted it, I either faced trying to do something completely new at literally the eleventh hour, or submitting something I wasn't very happy with to make the deadline. From the second I opened the thread and saw what Kurtis had done, I knew I stood no chance, as his look was exceptional. That being said, I'm thrilled I made it this far, and want to preemptively congratulate Cola for his victory.

[Korbyn]

Congrats Cola!!

Can't wait until Apprentice II, I will totally be in that one!

[Cola]

I just wanted to say thanks for the votes and for the opportunity to be in this competition, it was very interesting at times and kept me busy. I honestly think it improved many of my design skills along the way and I took in lots of the compliments and criticism from every round.

As for this design, it was a tough one for me- byresenting something simple in immediate appearance, you wonder if the viewer will embrace it as you did when sketching out the concept. Without constant feedback throughout the design process, it is nice to get compliments on your work from the first "showing" and that was appreciated. As always, I look at it and already see a few things I could have improved on- but it is what it is.

Bruschi, thanks for hanging in there until the end- you were awesome competition and being a teammate of yours throughout most of the competition, I knew you were bound to be filled with ideas. I must admit, your last design in the presidential logo took me by surprise and had me a bit worried for this competition...I was quickly on my toes.

Also, thanks to Pollux and the other judges for stepping in when the competition started to "slack off" a bit. I'm not sure where GFB has ran off to, but I'd like to thank him for taking the initiative to start a contest...CCSLC was long due for one. I will look forward to The Apprentice II!