It felt good to ride a creative outburst this past month. While there’s never a shortage of self-generated projects, they tend to land squarely in the middle of my comfort zone. But when someone else comes to me and asks for something, that’s a horse of a different PMS color.
For example, I don’t know diddley about origami, but my friend Ray is organizing a national convention next year, and they need a brand. Ray and his broke-ass group will likely be a grateful client, and since I have a day job and don’t need to hustle, that’s just fine by me. I think my ignorance is as much a virtue as their lack of fundage, as it lets me take “mountain fold” and “valley fold” to places the conventioneers might not.
Later that same week, another Ray — a CPA — asked me for a corporate ID for his new business. It’s a new thing for him, but based on a deep network of existing contacts, so he should do well. Giving him a simple, one-color, highly legible brand is the least I can do.
Finally, there’s Storefronts Seattle. This quintessential expression of nonprofit synergy (yeah, that’s what I said) seeks to activate — their word — vacant storefronts in Pioneer Square, the ID and Little Saigon. It’s a great idea that’s had success all over the country. For them, I seized on a particular architectural detail from the Smith Tower, zeroed out the edges that had worn down over time, and voilà: instant resonance. They loved it. I half-jokingly offered to accept one of the storefront spaces as payment, and while the reception was, necessarily, lukewarm, it was enough to trigger in me a Big Vision for what could be done there. Already I’m steeling myself for disappointment; I’m nearly convinced that just doing a logo I’m proud of is payment enough. Yup, nearly convinced.
The New Pornographers: Letter from an Occupant
That one-note hook is aging surprisingly well, n’est-ce pas?
2 responses so far ↓
Very proud of the Pochi.
Thank you, Sweetness.