I draw a lot of skulls, abstract forms and floral patterns. I spent many younger years exploring this type imagery and it’s stored in my muscle memory as much as my imagination. If I sit in front of blank paper too long, it just starts drawing itself.
A couple of Saturdays back, the Smack family got in the car to escape the house after a rainy morning cooped up inside. All of the usual parks and playgrounds were too soggy for the kids to enjoy.
We headed for high ground and went to Libby Hill Park to stroll a bit. I fired off some fairly haphazard shots with a Canon point-and-shoot and got this pic that I really love.
It’s kind of cruel. I actually like this instagram filtered, autofocused, image-grab better than anything I’ve shot, with much nicer equipment, in a pretty long time. And we’re always learning.
I’ve heard it said that a good logo can be drawn in the sand with a stick. We derive the term brand from the days of marking cattle when a brand mark needed to be distinct and simple in order to remain identifiable after it had been burned into the skin of the cow and allowed to heal.
Still today, a good brand mark must be versatile in it’s reproducibility. It must consider the materials used to communicate it. It’s not about effects or textures or color. First and foremost, it’s about a distinct form and conveyed or embedded meaning.
These marks were developed for a friend of mine. His logistics business is named JEQ & Co. The “Q” is the primary mark to be both hidden and communicated in the form. The concepts convey elements of timing, precision, transportation and destination.
It’s really unfortunate that the Redskins’ name is such a relic. One of the oldest teams in the league and one of the strongest traditions.
Art Monk is still a hero of mine. Coach Gibbs too.
The name is the only thing that connects this organization to the team I grew to love as a kid.
This team has a different owner, a different venue, a different coach x 10. The only loyalty equity that remains is this backwards, unfortunate, relic of a name.
I understand that some people don’t mind the name. I also understand that how a person commands language often reflects their level of education first, and their interpersonal awareness, a close second. The word choice of this team name is backed up by an ugly cultural history and complex heritage.
It always seemed odd but it’s only recently become a discussion.
As I pondered how the team may maintain a visual identity while preserving decency on a human level, I considered Redhawks and other variations that could keep the R, the color scheme and the feather. But those marks will always say “Redskins” whether that’s what it says or not.
I began playing with the logotype and rearranging the letters to see what may be there. “Ridneks” is a total winner. Change the name, keep the logotype. This communicates the unrelenting commitment that Dan Snyder has to “honoring” a continent of diverse peoples with one overarching approximated slur.
Here’s an alternate logotype rehash that would probably sell tshirts like hotcakes at a flag rally.
Going into the colder months on the back end of 2014, I’m starting to feel a little sluggish. Shorter days, a colder bite. Instincts are kicking in to hunker down.
Almost a year ago I made a new year’s resolution:
“Work out at least once a week. Every week. Without fail. All year.”
Since those first few weeks of 2014, I’ve logged over a thousand bike miles and dropped fifty pounds.
And consistency outdoes intensity, every time.
I had no intention to (and no idea that I might) lose that amount of weight. Real results happen in increments. Every goal was an easy and approachable one that built on the one before it.
Once a week. Then 20 miles a week on the bike. Then twice a week. Then added 5 running miles a week. etc. I threw in some nutrition input from a specialist and I still feel great.
In 2013 I ran 0 miles. In 2014 I ran over 300 miles and did a half marathon in pretty decent time.
I hope to carry this experience forward as well as the learning and refined intuition that came with it.
In 2015 I will choose new areas of progress around sleep and meditation as well as 500 miles running.
Distance running and meditation are very similar in terms of developing focus and patience, zoning out and zoning in to go just a bit further, and then just a bit further; enjoying a flow as you go. I expect to unlock even more potential in 2015.
A lot of people say they have ADHD and many do. But I think most just don’t know how to set a tone for focus. This album is a perfect soundtrack for really diving into a project that requires the cooperation of your best mind. Sunday afternoon at the office, diving into some heavy reading or creating a new work of art. This album is a good one.
Digital progress has made everyone a designer. Every eCommerce site offers WYSIWYG design customization via a menu of templates and stock assets. Every now and then breaking out some paper and putting ink to page is really satisfying. And somewhere in between the two is the humorously dated media of photocopy and fax machine. Everything is a medium for expression.
Now that I’m not spending the bulk of my days in the world of graphic design for advertising, my art energies are more available to help out friends. These are some flyers I spec’d up for my way-back childhood friend, poet, John Most.
When I was younger I used to entertain my friends by drawing funny but unflattering portraits of our teachers and of them and myself. Now I use that skill to draw simply happy pictures of people that my daughter will recognize. It makes her smile, which makes me smile. So now I draw simple pictures like this, even when she’s not watching, because her smile makes me happy.
Ahh, a crisp new blog. Spring is the time to refresh.