Seeking your rubber stamp
The city is hoping one of these condom-wrapper designs will get New Yorkers in the mood for safe sex.
The designs — which run the gamut from an elegant top hat to a sewer manhole cover — are the five finalists in a competition to become the official logo for NYC Condoms, the city’s wildly popular prophylactic giveaways.
People who go to the city Health Department’s Web site (www.nyc.gov/condoms) or Facebook page can vote on their favorite between now and Feb. 28.
All of the designs were created by New Yorkers and chosen by a panel of judges.
The top-hat logo is meant to show that “safe sex and good manners go hand in hand,” said its designer, Russell Greenberg, 29, of lower Manhattan. “Nothing symbolizes chivalry quite like a top hat.”
The gray manhole cover design, which has “NYC Condom” emblazoned across the middle, was the brainchild of Virgil Alderson, 39, of the Upper West Side. He said his logo was meant to project strength, protection and hygiene.
Fans of Freud will have a field day with the wrapper designed by Gene Lambert, 24, of Brooklyn, which depicts a subway train barreling into a tunnel.
Lambert said he wanted to design something interesting that New Yorkers would reach for.
“Once it’s in your hand,” he said, “might as well keep it and use it, right?”
The design resembling a computer “on” button is meant to symbolize “the power to take control,” according to designer Luis Acosta, 29, of Queens, while 27-year-old East Village resident Yujin Lee’s colorful circle logo is meant to promote positive feelings about safe sex. The finalists were chosen from more than 600 entries the department received in its search for designs that would “capture the city’s distinctive culture while promoting safer sex.”
