Originality of winning banner questioned

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This article was published 30/01/2023 (1300 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Questions are being raised about the winning design of the new Lunar New Year Chinese zodiac banner competition organized by Downtown Winnipeg BIZ and the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre.

Designer Jurgen Ardicus, 31, was accused of plagiarizing his content from a clipshare website. Elements of his winning banner design includes art that was not created by him but instead obtained from klipartz.com.

However Ardicus, who dabbles in graphic design as a hobby, maintains he did nothing wrong by purchasing the licensing rights to the open-sourced content and using it as part of his overall design.

In a statement to the Free Press he says:

“My work is genuine, incorporating open-sourced content that is available to anyone who wishes to purchase the licensing rights. This allows artists to use such content at free will, with the exception of redistribution to download and sell as their own. The fine print on the license rights purchased explains this, therefore my banner design as a whole is genuine, and all purchased components within are compliant to the usage rights media, as well as the Downtown BIZ criteria.

“Some members of the online public are often quick to comment and judge, without having complete knowledge of the story. We, as media-driven consumers, must be aware of what we read online, and get the full story before posting a comment.

“I hope this information sheds light on my work, in a positive way, to keep honouring the Chinese community here in Winnipeg, during this time of New Year celebrations.”

Ardicus received an $800 honorarium for his winning entry and the opportunity for his work to be printed on 19 banners to be mounted in the six square blocks bounded by Main and Princess streets and Logan and James avenues.

Rob Pare, a design lecturer at a Winnipeg school who contacted the Free Press, said he noticed something was amiss when he saw the winning design.

“It didn’t look like the same artist did it when you compared the artwork at the top to the one on the bottom. I emailed Downtown BIZ to let them know,” he said in a phone interview.

“Designers are known to use free services when creating art, but this was for a competition. There’s a Reddit thread online so obviously other people have come across it. It’s kind of a kick in the pants for the designers who worked hard on something like this.”

Ardicus’s banner has an image of a giant rabbit together with lanterns, fireworks and a traditional lion dance, accompanied by figures playing drums and cymbals.

The bottom third of the banner art was purchased from the website.

Some of Pare’s students entered the contest.

“My students work hard on the contest and that’s why this irks me when I found out.”

When contacted for a comment, Pam Hardman, director of marketing, engagement and communication at Downtown Winnipeg BIZ said: “After further review of the banner design and with guidance from the selection committee, we have decided that sticking with the original banner design is the best course of action.

“We look forward to seeing the banners up in Chinatown in the coming weeks.”

av.kitching@freepress.mb.ca