City of Nixa Design Contest Submissions Overview of submissions received: • Total number of entries: 29. Entries come from college students, accountants, police officers, designers from Nixa, Springfield, and as far away as Delaware. • 2 entries failed to submit a fully vector file of their designs. We specifically stated in directions that designs should be fully vector and submitted by .ai or .eps file. • We also specifically stated in directions that colors should NOT be graded, shadowed, or faded. Simple, distinct coloring with a low degree of intricacy make it easier to screen print (for flag) or embroider the design (for police patch). Review of entries: • In order that council may judge the first round anonymously, the names of the designers have been excluded where possible (unless the submission was watermarked or branded with their own logo). Entries are numbered. • The notes provided are in regards to technical specifications and critique of the designers effort to follow directions set in the official rules which were posted online. • Tastes vary widely, both among designers and judges. Keep in mind you may move up to 6 designers forward as finalists. • We need to provide specific design criticism. It is easy for designers to change fonts, shapes, remove or change text. Shapes of intricate animals or other design elements may be difficult to adjust. I will attempt to investigate eagles, bears, etc. used by finalists to ensure those design elements have not been used in violation of copyright. The only sure way to avoid copyright violation is to design completely from scratch. Design entry #1: Seal, flag, and police patch. This designer failed to provide a file in either .eps, .ai, or .pdf format to ensure the design is fully vector. This .jpg was submitted and no response was received after I requested a vector file. The designs for seal and badge include gradients of light and shadow. This is not a valid entry. Design entry #2: This designer provided a valid entry. Seal has only three colors: Red, black, and white. The seal of the state of Missouri can be seen as part of the Missouri flag within the seal. This area of the design may be too intricate for embroidery or screen printing. There is also a light and shadow gradient which may be easily eliminated by the designer. Design entry #2: “The seal and patch both denote; the city, county and state of your location. At the bottom of the city hall seal you will find your slogan or motto “City of Opportunity” and at the bottom of the police patch it indicates ownership to the “Police Department.” Inside the seal and patch you will identify your community mascot, the fierce “Eagle” with 4 stars underneath representing when your municipality was incorporated in 1946 as a 4th class city as prescribed by the State of Missouri. Just below the 4 stars you will notice the year of 1902 representing when the village of Nixa was incorporated. The motto “a crossroads” brings credit to the key location where the City of Nixa resides. Below from right to left, you will identify the Missouri State flag and to the right the United States flag, both representing rich traditions, values and beliefs of your residents and the bedrock from which they are built. The colors of both the seal and patch were picked to correspond with your local colors of both the city hall and the police department. Furthermore, you will notice that your symbols of city, state and united states are encompassed with olive branches, signifying a culture of peace and unity. I believe this seal and patch truly does embody your city’s rich values, traditions and beliefs.” Design entry #2: Police patch is not in a shield shape. It also has a light/shadow gradient. Flag is provided in black and white. You may want to ask this designer to add/change colors. Design entry #3: This designer provided a valid entry. Design entry #3: “As you can see the main inspiration is city logo and X in Nixa from which we get the Red Saltire. Second the wavy blue cross comes from the origin of Nixa being settled first for it's streams, and secondly as a crossroads. Overall the design intentionally invokes Union Jack as; despite Nixa being in what was the French colony of Louisiana; the early settlers of Nixa were Anglos descended directly from Great Britain. The seal I've created is centered around the Coat of Arms I devised for Nixa, based on the flag as seen above, which I shall explain not. Shield: The shape of the shield has specific symbolism as the shape I chose was the one prefered by the French for their shields referring to Nixa's history as being in formerly French land. Sun and Bear: I felt proper that to pay homage to the former seal, that I would reuse some of the former elements; which maintain their (I assume) symbolism; the Bear represents the State of Missouri and local wildlife; The rising sun represents the opportunity that one can find in the City of Nixa. Dates: 1852 - Nicholas A. Inman settled in Nixa; 1881 - When the name Nixa was chosen; 1902: The City of Nixa is incorporated. Seal Ring: The seal ring is red white and blue to honor the flag of Missouri, with the blue band having wavy lines to represent the streams Nixa was founded upon and the namesake of the State of Missouri. I changed the stars on the seal to crosses intersected by an X to both create arrow posts. To expand on the symbolism of the Police Patch the main shield shape I choose mainly for aesthetic but to make it meaningful it's specially an English Shield to represent English Common Law which is the foundation of our American legal system. For the Police patch it's based on the Seal of Nixa but some modifications to the Coat of Arms for design and space considerations when embroidered. Firstly the name Nixa was moved to the shield; Secondly the date 1902 was emphasized as the incorporation of Nixa in 1902 gave it the authority to rise the police force. Thirdly which I believe the Police Department will appreciate is the fact the Thin Blue Line is subtly incorporated into the patch.” This designer changed the shape of the Design entry #3: police patch and provided a flag which incorporates the red St. Patrick’s Cross from a flag representing Ireland. IXA, M Design entry #4: F N ISS O O “I decided that the best way to redesign the city seal was to Y U T R create a simplified version of the current seal, using some of I I the same symbols and ideas as the original seal. The first C element of the seal that stands out is the eagle. The eagle is a symbol that is seen all over Nixa, from its sports teams to watermarks on its city website. This made an eagle a great centerpiece for the seal. I decided to create a new design for the eagle that made good use of negative space with just enough detail to be interesting. Behind the eagle is a red circle. The red circle is a representation of a rising sun. In many cultures a rising sun is a symbol for rebirth and new opportunities. This symbolism goes well with the words “CITY OF OPPORTUNITIES” in the current logo. A sun is also often associated with energy and nature. In Nixa being outside and using the trails and parks is important to us. Finally, the sun is also a symbol of rising. This also applies to Nixa since it is growing along with the surrounding cities. The sun also E appears on the current city seal. At the top of the seal, the city ST. 02 and state are written out together so that it is clear what the 19 seal is for. Finally, at the bottom of the seal, the date in which the city was established is written out.” This designer provided a valid entry. Design entry #4: “The flag was the first thing that I designed. After researching the history of Nixa, I learned how important the crossroads are to Nixa’s history. The main element on the flag is the crossroads. I decided to make the layout of the crossroad like that of the design used on the city’s logo. The principles of good flag design mention that text and city seals should not be used on flags. This is because it is hard to read text when it is waiving in the wind. Most of the well-designed flags that I looked at only contained two to three colors, which lead to me choosing black, red, and white. I believe that this design is simple enough to be able to draw from memory and would look waiving on a flag pole.” Design entry #4: The updated patch is a copy of the current Nixa police patch with the new city seal. This is the only design that has more colors than black, red, and white. The circle patch is the first alternative police patch. This design takes advantage of the new city seal and simply adds the word POLICE to the top of the seal. Depending on how much the seal is going to be incorporated into the city, this solution would let that design flow directly over to the police patch. New patch. This patch is the final police patch design. This design takes the minimum amount of information needed and incorporates the center of the new city seal design.