The Bookseller.com

4th July 2009

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RH launches design competition

02.01.08 Alison Flood

Random House and Creative Review are launching a competition to design the cover of Crowdsourcing, WIRED editor Jeff Howe's forthcoming book about how the internet has turned the crowd into a collaborative force. The Coversourcing competition is open until 10th February, and the winning design will be printed on all UK editions of Crowdsourcing.

The word "crowdsourcing" was coined by Howe in a 2006 article for Wired, to describe the way the internet has broken down traditional employer/employee relationships to create new enterprises run by informal gatherings of enthusiasts. Random expects Howe's book to generate an impact comparable to The Long Tail, Blink and The Wisdom of Crowds.

Visitors to the Coversourcing website at www.coversourcing.co.uk will be able to vote for their favourite designs to form a shortlist of entrants, which will then be judged by a panel of judges consisting of Howe, Random House art director Richard Ogle, Creative Review editor Patrick Burgoyne and Pentagram Design UK partner Angus Hyland.

The chosen jacket design will be printed on all UK editions of Crowdsourcing, which is out August 2008, and the winner will also be presented with a signed first edition of the title and framed artwork along with a cash prize of £500.

"We are seeking a striking, iconic book jacket design which should engage on the strength of its concept and composition rather than rely on finishes and production values," Random House and Creative Review said. "The cover design should be bold, dynamic and eye-catching and should sit as comfortably on shelves at your local high street book shop as it would as a thumbnail image on Amazon. We'd love it if the chosen jacket was a collaboration-a true expression of the power of crowdsourcing. So if you want to collaborate with other artists & designers-illustrators, photographers, typographers-we heartily recommend it."

They added: "Of course there are no right or wrong answers. And when it comes to what works, in the spirit of crowdsourcing, it's down to you, the masses, to decide."

Random House Alison Flood covers