Artists and graphic designers from throughout the Interior responded to the Okanagan Regional Library’s call for a new library card design, and after a difficult adjudication process, the library system has unveiled the winning creations.
“With more than 130 entries, it was next to impossible to only choose four designs as we’d originally promoted, so there will be six new library card designs for our members and new customers to choose from,” said Marla O’Brien, public relations and fundraising manager for the ORL.
The winners are:
Bernie Ramis – card featuring Ogopogo
Laura Schretlen – card featuring sunset valley view
Don Ferguson – cards featuring the rocket ship and the “Read Every Day” slogan
Anne-Marie Estrada – card featuring the books in a graphic format
Jocelyn Wilson – card featuring the globe in one’s hands
Ramis, of Vernon, joined the contest along with his children, who also entered and had both their entries short-listed.
“We didn’t realize at the time because the voting was blind, but thought it was interesting that the whole family is very talented and creative,” said O’Brien.
Judging was done by ORL staff using a combination of popular vote plus emphasis on diversity of visual look, method of creation, and appeal to a broad range of age and gender.
The judging was done blind with no identifiers so there was no basis on gender or residence of the artist.
“We were really blown away by the diversity and creativity shown in the entries and are sincerely thankful to everyone who shared their vision with us,” said O’Brien.
The designs are now being readied for print and should be available in the ORL’s 29 branches by mid-late March.
The new cards will include key tags and have barcodes pre-printed on the back, so members who wish to change their old card for a new design will be assigned a new barcode.
The ORL board agreed to waive the typical $2 replacement fee for six months so everyone who wants a new card for their wallet can get one free.
Cards are also free to new members who live in, or own property or a business, in the ORL region.