With Halloween fast approaching, I thought everyone would really enjoy the work of Tom Whalen. He has recently revamped several classic horror movie posters, mixing vintage elements with modern techniques. To see more of what he can do, check out his portfolio.
Just a little amazing guitar work for your Saturday morning enjoyment.
So last night is still ringing in my ears, but in a good way. Not only does it warm the heart to see how the city I’ve chosen to call home awards and encourages innovation, but 2 of our friends, Music Intelligence and Structured Green won in their respective categories; Small Business and Sustainability. I’d say that was a good night. Much thanks goes out to Brynn, Fitz and advisory board for putting on another stellar ceremony. Congrats to all the winners and can’t wait till next year.
By using as many dark colors on our standard monitors as possible we can reduce energy consumption by 20%, and while this may not be noticeable for a single user it can really add up when dealing with numerous computer terminals. According to Stephen at Stephen’s Lighthouse:
“White and bright colors (especially in backgrounds) can use up to 20% more power than black or dark colors. Unfortunately, e-mail and word processors tend to use white backgrounds, so your workstation uses considerable power while you are in these programs, which you are during much of the day. Because black-on-white is the most familiar (it’s just like the newspaper), selecting alternate combinations may not be appealing. However, you can change your desktop background to something efficient. You can change your background by selecting Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display, and Appearance tab. The ‘Item’ field should say ‘Desktop’. Under color, select one of the colors at the right that has a rating below 65W and then click ‘OK.’”
So I have made some simple dark wallpapers using a retro wood theme that may reduce your energy footprint. There are fullscreen, widescreen and iphone sizes - and each has a version with the EcoStatement and one without. There are also some darker versions that are black and white. Enjoy.
Known as the “Thoroughbred City” and the “Horse Capital of the World,” Lexington is the second largest city in Kentucky. Before moving to Savannah and joining the Paragon team I lived in a loft apartment in downtown Lexington, which gave me instant access to everything this beautiful bluegrass location had to offer. It also allowed me to see first-hand how excited the city was to host the first ever World Equestrian Games in 2010.
I first heard about the games coming to Lexington years ago, as a student of communications at Asbury College. I immediately began considering what the branding would look like, since I had just come back from the Olympics in Turin where I had been bombarded with the kind of branding world events seem to attract. So naturally my interest was peaked to discover that one of my favorite agencies had been tapped to design the look of Lexington for the 2010 games—the legendary Pentagram.
The Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau asked Pentagram to develop a visual identity that reflects Lexington’s “one of a kind personality.”
DJ Stout & Michael Bierut came up with the concept of “Big Lex,” a mythical character based on a portrait of the famous racehorce “Lexington” painted by renowned Kentucky artist Edward Troye in 1868. The idea is simple enough, Bluegrass + horses = One Giant Blue Horse. The interesting twist is how they weave the character into traditional oil paintings to give it an old school equestrian feel. The goal was to create a contemporary interpretation of a classic art genre that would stand out from many other cities.
“There really aren’t that many identities for cities in the U.S. that you can remember” says Stout. “What you are more likely to remember about a place are its distinctive buildings, towers, statues, and landmarks …”
My initial reaction to the logo design was not a good one. A simple sans serif font and a big blue horse just doesn’t seem to give the sense of elegance that the horse community is traditionally identified with. I immediately took to twitter to see what others were saying and my thoughts were echoed by locals in the Lexington area:
“Their style doesn’t seem to line up with the horse world, which is much more frilly, classic, and old-school.”
-Will Sears
“I like the identity package ok, but those renderings are mad hokey looking.”
-Lauren Liggett
But after I had some time to think about the new brand for the city, I started to see the genius in the design. On one side you could say that it looks too simple or that the billboard looks like they were just trying to fit everything in. The horse looks a bit like clip art and the elements don’t necessarily look like they were meant to go together. But on the other hand, knowing Pentagram, it will be the application of simplicity that will make this concept really sing. The use of the oil painting tips its hat to traditionalism while bringing you into the new brand (tell me people won’t be buying posters of this). The generic looking horse outline actually has significant local history, and the idea of using it instead of the name of the city will indeed make it stand out. I would wear the I “Horse” Lex shirt, and looking at the letterhead more and more makes me wish for a moment that I worked for the City Council. Just a moment.
So what do you think? Is the logo too simple? Is it strong enough? Does it stand out or is it utterly forgettable?
–
References
Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau
Pentagram Article “A Horse of a Different Color”
Will Sears on Twitter - @willsears
Lauren Liggett on Twitter - @laurenmignon
All images from Pentagram
I can’t take credit for finding this (a friend emailed it), but it’s too good not to share.
The Fun Theory (thefuntheory.com), an initiative of Volkswagen, is a “site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or something entirely different, just so long as it’s change for the better.”
I. LOVE. THIS.
I dare you to watch these short clips and not be inspired to do something similar in your community:
Bottle Bank Arcade Machine
The World’s Deepest Bin
And my favorite…
Piano Staircase
If you’ve got a great idea for something similar, perhaps you should enter the Fun Theory competition…you could win €2500.
Since we haven’t done this in a while, and because we have a few sites to announce, we thought it was time to blow our own horn a bit with some of our latest web launches.
1. Tasty eCommerce: Coffaros Baking Co.
Through our friends at CommerceV3, we redesigned the online storefront for Auburn Washington based Coffaros Baking Co. This authenticly family owned establishment had us drolling just working on the project.
You can visit the site here.
2. Keeping it Natural and Local: Earth to Table Catering
Those who know us know about our passion for all things sustainable so we jumped at the chance to sink our teeth into rebranding Cha Bella restaurant’s catering division. As the name suggests, the food they serve is grown locally some of it on their own farm.
You can check them out here.
3. God Bless the Interweb: Christ Church Episcopal
Our friends at Christ Church Episcopal entrusted us with the sacred task of creating a new look for their church website. This is what Michael White, the Rector had to say about the experience:
In 2009, a key strategic priority for Christ Church Episcopal was to develop a very professional, yet appealing website to effectively communicate to our parishioners, the local community and The Episcopal Church, at large.
We appointed a strong committee of business leaders and clergy to select a design firm and work with them in the development of the site. After an exhaustive search, our committee selected Paragon Design Group in Savannah, Georgia.
We could not be more pleased with the quality and appeal of our updated website (www.christepiscopalsavannah.org ). We have received an unprecedented number of “rave” reviews from throughout The Episcopal Church and even thoughout the world. Our hit rate has exceeded every expectation. With the help of Paragon and Google Analytics we are now developing strategies to further increase and refine our visitors and more specifically determine their interests.
Candidly, our committee was very demanding. Susan, Drew and Philip with Paragon could have not been more discerning, creative, talented, responsive, patient and most importantly “unanxious!” They exceeded our very high expectations.
It was a pleasure working with this outstanding TEAM and we are honored to recommend our experience.
You can visit the site here.
4. Simple and Classy and a lil’ bit Sassy: Olive and Cocoa
Keeping your design simple isn’t always easy, but in the case of boutique Olive and Cocoa it was absolutely necessary. This was another store that came to us through CommerceV3, You can view the site here.
