Communication designer wants Ghana@50 logo replaced

Kumasi, Feb. 5, GNA - The National Planning Committee of Ghana's Golden Jubilee celebrations has been advised to withdraw with immediate effect the logo selected for the celebrations, as it does not suit the occasion.

Mr Yaw Boafo, a Communication Designer, who made the call, said the selection of the logo was unprofessionally done and also an embarrassment to the Planning Committee and the nation as a whole as it lacked the main motif of Ghana's known and recognisable identity.

"In the interest of a successful and all embracing Ghana's 50th Independence anniversary, I suggest that the current logo is withdrawn and replaced with a more appropriate one crafted out of either an outline map of Ghana, the Coat of Arms, Independence Arch, Big Six, Black Star, Eagle, National Flag or any other appropriate 93Adinkra" symbol", he said.

Speaking at a press conference in Kumasi at the weekend, Mr Boafo noted that it was also unacceptable for the Planning Committee to settle on the current logo out of the many well-designed samples submitted to them by competing designers.

He said, 93A logo that does not identify the purpose for which it was designed becomes 91un-symbolic'".

Mr Boafo said for instance that the inscription 1957-2007, Golden Jubilee or 50th Independence anniversary should have accompanied the logo, stressing that since this was lacking, 93the said anniversary logo ought to be withdrawn and replaced with a more appropriate one". He also called for an enquiry into how the prize money for the logo competition was disbursed and who the beneficiaries of the disbursement were.

This, he said, would help to allay doubts on the minds of artists and designers who submitted entries for the competition as to the sort of criteria used in settling on the current logo, the name of the winner and the runners-up.

Mr Boafo, who is the National President of the Ghana Art Teachers Association, described as unfortunate the fact that the Planning Committee had turned a deaf ear to numerous calls for the replacement of the logo since it was selected last year due to its unsuitability for the occasion.

He said there was the need to make a conscious effort at tracing the whereabouts of entries that were submitted for the advertised logo competition and a suitable one chosen from among them so as to give the nation a befitting 50th Independence anniversary.