Why $295? The 95 trick is supposed to reduce the perceived amount, but this is a bounty, not a price, so it doesn't make any sense. $300 would be a better idea.
Is the "for Artificial Intelligence" still going to be part of the name (as of this logo redesign)? I recall Will said they might be dropping that.
As an artist, I have some issues with crowdsourcing labor. Those issues are diminished a bit when we're doing it for charity, where money isn't our primary motivator. But "contest" type jobs are becoming more and more common as a general practice and they devalue our labor. For it to actually be in our best interest, the contest prize needs to be proportional to the risk of not getting anything, but it almost always is, in fact, lower than the going rate. $295 is in the ballpark of a standard fee, but still on the lower end of the spectrum
I don't...
Insider info: This was tried. There have been e-mails going around with many many logos by a hired artist attached to them. There is approximately zero consensus and most people aren't happy with any of the logos.
If the SI were known for two things - both organizing the annual Singularity Summit and also sponsoring a peer-reviewed Electronic Journal of Friendly AI Research (EJFAIR), then I suspect it would have the best of both worlds. Neither activity is so disreputable as to tarnish the good reputation derived from the other (within relevant subcultures).
To my mind, the real threat to SI (or SIAI) credibility is the perception that it is an isolated intellectual subculture, speaking only to itself, and not engaged in an open and critical dialog with other AI researchers. Choosing the right euphemism for use in the name of the organization is not the most important task in this PR battle.
Unfortunately, it's not easy to come up with simple images that convey such concepts as the Vastness of mind design space (or, for that matter, Vastness), the potentiality of intelligence explosion, the dangers of Really Powerful Optimising Processes, and [the plausibility of] the Hard Takeoff scenario. So, all the imagery I've devised so far has been text-based. ...I wonder if anyone else submitting designs even reads LW. I wonder if anyone who doesn't read LW could possibly produce anything suitable. I wonder why the contest announcement doesn't link...
I highly recommend sending private messages to 200 designers on 99designs saying you like their work (best if you link to something they've done that you like) and would love for them to participate in your logo contest.
I think painstakingly sending invites and paying a lot are the two biggest factors of 99designs success.
Who's the guy standing behind the podium in singinst.org's banner image? He's missing his torso. I never looked at that picture very closely until now (I wanted to see how it would look with one of my logos on it).
What do people think of the designs? My favorites are the SI-as-galaxy icons by Marah (especially #125) and the gravitational-singularity-as-wings ones by strelac (especially #124) --and my lettering and SI-sigil, of course. I'm not sure the semiotics of using a gravitational singularity in the logo are entirely advisable, though. I also like #109, but only because it's kind of pretty.
Here are links to a few more of my logos, in case anyone wants to see a more representative sample.
This is a 3D-reverse-video version of the 'insignia' or 'sigil': http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/8684/sireversebrightmetal.png
This is my original lettering, which I was advised no one else would like: http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1094/singularityinstitutemet.png
And here's a 'retro' one featuring the SI's 'old' name, with a rather subtle visual gag (is it subtler than the one in my last comment?): http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1769/singularityins...
Now that they're all visible, I guess it's okay to post this: http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6645/singularitiesareinthema.png
[edited to replace link since I noticed the left edge of the picture was cut off]
I'm going to try pasting an image into this comment: [URL=http://img21.imageshack.us/i/singularitiesareinthema.png/][IMG]http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6645/singularitiesareinthema.png[/IMG][/URL]
The 99designs site has stopped accepting uploads. I discovered at the last minute that I had to resize most of my images (even though they're tiny files, way under the mentioned file size limit), so I wasn't able to upload most of them. I used my other internet name, Archelon.
If you have graphic design experience, check out the on-going logo design competition at 99designs for the Singularity Institute. There are still 6 days left to enter and be eligible to win the $295 prize if your design is selected. Tell your friends with graphic design experience too. There are very few submissions currently.
Note: This is a blind contest. Designers can only see their own entries. All designs will be revealed when the contest ends.
If you're interested at getting a peek at the designs, they will be online after the competition is over. This is standard practice in 99designs contests to prevent designers from contaminating each other and having all the designs drift in a certain direction.