It's Legit: There's a PAGCOR Logo-Making Contest for Freelancers Worldwide

Editor's Note: Freelancer.com on July 18 declared a different winner after a "misunderstanding" with the previously announced winner from the Philippines. SPOT.ph updated the article to reflect the changes.

(SPOT.ph) What if PAGCOR only had U.S. $50 (around P2,700) instead of P3 million for a new logo? A website for freelancers thought about it, and asked millions of its users across the world for logo ideas that can replace the controversial blue-and-red logo.

In less than 24 hours, some 770 designs were submitted for the "Redesign the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) logo" global contest, which saw freelance artists from the Philippines to Egypt, Canada, Bangladesh, Morocco and other parts of the world come up with their interpretation of what it should look like.

"As we have almost two million users in the Philippines, we decided to launch our own contest to see how freelancers would redesign and reimagine the PAGCOR logo," said Marko Zitko, the communications manager of Freelancer.com.

"This contest was just for fun—to see what our freelancers could do for a fraction of the price that it would traditionally cost a company to get a logo redesign by a design consultant or a firm. The top results are impressive and a showcase of what freelancers can do in a really short time frame," he said in an email exchange with SPOT.ph.

Also read:
Did You Know That the New PAGCOR Logo is Worth P3 Million?
PAGCOR Says New Logo Isn't Plagiarized From "Tripper"

What the PAGCOR logo contest is about

At Freelancer.com, freelancers can pick any jobs—from logo designs to social media postings to software development—depending on the needs of the client as posted on the website.

For the PAGCOR logo-making contest, there are just three rules: the design doesn't have to adhere to PAGCOR's colors and patterns, it should either be in JPG or PNG, and it should incorporate three company pillars as stated by PAGCOR—guidance, leadership, and direction.

And just so it's clear, there's this note: "This logo is just for fun, PAGCOR will not be using your logo."

So who won? Username @romjanvect1 from Bangladesh's design is the winner. Initially, the design of a Filipino artist won the contest until it was discovered to be an AI-generated logo created by someone else. He "has since apologized and come forward with the misunderstanding," Zitko told SPOT.ph.

Check out some of the runners-up here to see if these are worth $50 or who knows, even P3 million.

Also read: Before the PAGCOR Logo Fiasco, There Was SEA Games and Bangko Sentral