Seoul Metropolitan Government Announcement No.

2023-1464

OPEN CALL: SEOUL BRAND DESIGN CONTEST

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is developing a new brand that embodies the charms and identity of
Seoul in order to strengthen its urban competitiveness and inspire the pride of its citizens. Accordingly, in order to
gather various opinions of citizens on the brand design, we are conducting a public poll on the preference of
existing new brand designs along with an open call for design submissions.

May 15, 2023

Mayor of Seoul

□ Overview
○ Open Call: Seoul Brand Design Contest
○ Details: Brand image (logo design) and description (500 characters or less)
※ All-new creative design or modifications to the four existing options
○ Theme: Brand image (logo design) that best suits the new slogan “Seoul My Soul”
- Urban Identity: Inspiring, Balance, Platform, Globality
󰋯 Inspiring: A city of opportunities that inspires and brings hope to realize one's dreams and potentials
󰋯 Balance: A city that harmonizes the past and future, tradition and innovation, and nature and technology
󰋯 Platform: A city that serves as the foundation for creating something new in an environment of free and dynamic culture
󰋯 Globality: A city that serves as an international economic hub for open-minded global citizens

※ Seoul’s core values derived by collecting opinions from the “Seoul is” slogan keyword contest (Aug.–Sep. 2022)
○ Utilization Plan: A representative brand promoting Seoul

□ Eligibility & Restrictions

○ Eligibility: Koreans and non-Koreans (no restrictions on age or residency)
○ Restrictions: Submissions must be honest, ethical, original, and non-duplicate. In the event of dishonesty, such as
plagiarism, applicants will be subject to disadvantageous measures such as cancellation of awards, refund
of prizes, and restricted participation in future open calls for the next five years.
※ Applicants must submit an integrity pledge (check: “not awarded in other contests,” and “non-plagiarized; non-duplicate; original work”)
□ Criteria (draft)
Reflection of charms
Originality Suitability Clarity Correlation Expandability
Points and identity
(out of 100)
20 16 16 16 16 16

· Reflection of charms and identity: Reflection of Seoul’s charms, identity, and core values
· Originality: Creative design
· Suitability: Design that meets the purpose of the contest
Rubric
· Clarity: Intuitively understandable design
· Correlation: Design in harmony with the place and surrounding space
· Expandability: Design that can be used in various ways both online and offline

□ Schedule (plan)

Announcement May 15, 2023

Application May 15 – Jun. 20, 2023

- Shortlist: Announced on Jun. 28, 2023

- Finalists: Announced on Jul. 10, 2023
Awards ※ Awarded works will be posted on the SMG website and contacted individually
※ For public verification, the award nominations should be disclosed online for at least 10 days to receive reports or
information about cheating

□ Application
○ How to apply: Online via the SMG website
○ Submissions
(1) Application form
- The application form must include the applicant’s information, and the image and description of the submitted work

Classification Details

Information · Applicant’s personal information (e.g. name, email)

· Size: A4 size or bigger; jpg, png, or pdf file (10 MB or less)

Image · Watermark of the applicant’s real name not to be included in the image
※ Submission of files that can be edited (AI or PSD) only for future award-winning works

· Description of the design’s background, concept, meaning, etc.

Description
· Description of the design (e.g. purpose, characteristics)

(2) Integrity pledge

(3) Team collaboration form (if applicable)
○ Procedure
- SMG website → Download form → Fill out application form (incl. image and description) and integrity pledge → Submit
application form and upload design file
- Upload 1 compressed file (zip) including (1), (2), and (3) in one folder
※ Only zip files are accepted; deadline for submission of application is by 6 PM on the last of application

□ Awards

Rank Winner(s) Reward Award

Total 10 ₩13,500,000

1st 1 ₩5,000,000
Seoul Mayor’s Certificate of

2nd 1 ₩3,000,000 Recognition

※ Winners subject to change depending on the
number and quality of submissions, etc.
3rd 1 ₩2,000,000

Runner-up 7 ₩500,000 each

※ Rewards are remitted to personal bank accounts (after deducting taxes and dues)
※ Winners subject to change depending on the number and quality of submissions

□ Note
○ Personal information created at the time of submission is used only for the purpose of this contest.
○ Individuals are free to apply, and if the applicant does not request the return of the entry, all entries that do not win will
be discarded within 3 months from the end of the contest.
○ Contestants who are subject to this evaluation or selected as winners should submit the relevant information when
requested by the SMG to submit the original file of the work and related documents to confirm eligibility for
participation. If the documents are not submitted within the deadline, they will be excluded from the evaluation.
○ Applicants must fill out the prescribed form when submitting.
○ Copyrights (author's property rights and moral rights) for the works submitted to the contest shall belong to the
applicants, and in principle, belong to the winners even after winning the prize.
○ Applicants must make every effort not to plagiarize or steal the intellectual property rights of others.
 Scope and Definition of Cheating

The use of original ideas or creations other than general knowledge without due approval or quotation marks
Examples of plagiarism

i) Using all or part of another person’s research as they are without indicating the source
Plagiarism
ii) Partially modifying and using the word sentence structure of another person's work without indicating the source
iii) Using another person's original idea, etc., without indicating the source
iv) Translating and using another person’s work without indicating the source

The act of making false research results, evidence, etc. that do not exist and including them in the contents of the contest
Forgery
proposal

The act of distorting the contents or results of the application by artificially manipulating or arbitrarily transforming or
Falsification
deleting research data/process, etc.

Unfair
In a contest that restricts duplicate entries, the act of submitting a contest proposal that is the same as or substantially similar
duplicate
to a prize-winning proposal submitted to another contest without indicating the source
application

○ The SMG shall conduct a public verification of award-winning works for more than 10 days to verify the cheating of
award-winning works; when cheating is discovered through citizen reports, the work concerned will be excluded from
the award-winning work.
○ However, if there is a special nature or content of the contest, such as concerns about copyright infringement, whether or
not to conduct public verification, its scope and method can be determined through deliberation by the judging
committee.
○ The results of the final selection may be registered and disclosed on the SMG website, and applicants are deemed to have
agreed to this.
○ The SMG may preferentially acquire the author's property rights for the award-winning works. At this time, whether or
not to transfer, the scope, etc., shall be determined later through a separate agreement with the winner (author).
○ The SMG plans to utilize and spread the secondary works of the award-winning works in various ways to publicize
Seoul in the future. If the winners refuse to agree on copyright, such as copyright transfer and permission for use of the
original work, etc. in the future, it is contrary to the purpose of this contest, so the award shall be canceled and the prize
money returned.
○ The SMG may create secondary works with separate permission from the winners.
- Award-winning works shall be submitted as editable files (AI or PSD)
- The contents of the award-winning works may be supplemented or modified by the SMG in the process of utilization
(development) for the final brand selection in the future, such as elaboration by professional designers.
○ If a team or an organization applies, a representative shall be appointed and all discussions with the SMG shall be
conducted with the representative. (Please submit a document stating that the contribution rate for the work is internally
determined to select a representative, and all subsequent discussions with the SMG shall be carried out by the
representative.)
○ Applicants shall fulfill their duty of care so that their proposals do not infringe on the copyrights, portrait rights, etc. of
third parties.
○ If a dispute arises in relation to the copyright of an entry in the contest, it can be resolved by applying for mediation to
the Korea Copyright Commission, and both parties shall make mutual efforts to resolve the dispute smoothly.
○ Depending on the number of applications received and the results of the evaluation, all or some of the winning works
may not be selected.
○ The detailed schedule of the contest is subject to change, and changes will be announced on the city website.
○ For other inquiries, please contact the SMG Seoul Branding Division (+82-2-2133-6197, 6941).