About the Contest
In August, Iruri, the 52nd student council of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), hosted a student identification (ID) card design contest. Along with the purpose of overcoming the difficulty of communication due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, they organized this contest to strengthen Kingo’s school pride and satisfy the continuous demand for a new ID card design. More than 300 designs were submitted with keen interest during the application period, and the committee, including delegates of Kingos and SKKU, chose 10 designs through the initial screening. Afterward, a collective vote among these designs was carried out, and the final three nominees were selected on September 8th. After sample testing and a final examination process, the official new design will be selected in October, and this will be applied to all SKKU ID cards beginning next year. There were many controversies during the process, however, such as uncertainty of the criteria and the selection of some designs that did not follow the guidelines. Therefore, the Sungkyun Times (SKT) is going to explore the contest and convey the voices of Kingos.
Controversies Surrounding Top 10 Designs
1. Selection of Some Designs That Didn’t Follow the Guidelines
There was a guideline that explained the permitted range of design modifying and presented some sample designs, and it was an obligation to follow those rules. Some parts of the explanation, such as the usage of the school logo, however, were not stated explicitly, and some students contacted the student council to lessen the confusion. They received the reply that any color overlay on the logo is prohibited and that doing so might lead to disadvantages. Despite this, there were some designs that violated this guideline among the top 10 designs, and this led to lots of controversies. Iruri finally recognized their mistakes and chose the designs again. One of the applicants mentioned, “I was so confused when I saw the nominated designs that didn’t follow the guidelines. I believe the inaccurate explanation was the main reason for this issue.” As each component affects the overall design, Iruri should have made obvious, detailed guidelines and a selection that corresponded to their replies to students before.
2. Non-disclosure of Criteria and Evaluation Results
The committee which initially selected the top 10 designs consists of 20 school members, including school directors, heads of departments, and members of the student council. Although it is difficult to gather the opinions of the majority when evaluating many nominees at once, many students stated that the small number of committee members was not enough to represent the whole. This kind of opinion grew when some students uploaded their disqualified works on the online school community Everytime. Some said the works uploaded were better than those selected as the top 10, and they began to wonder about the evaluation criteria. Even though competition seems to be proper only when the criteria and evaluation results are disclosed, the student council has not disclosed any of them.
For the Better Contest
The student ID card shows one’s identity as a Kingo, and it is necessary to select the design that satisfies lots of students. Disclosure of obvious criteria and evaluation results is necessary for this goal. Moreover, Iruri has to relieve the disputes that occurred during the contest, collect the opinions, and apply them to their processes through active communication with students. Finally, it is important to keep in mind that through several trials and errors, this contest should be a stepping-stone for their further tasks.