1st Green Festival in Indiana: Making of the Logo

As the founder of the Wayendale Green Alliance, I'm not very technically inclined. Now, I can write a little, and I'm full of blarney- but when it comes to the mechanics of Photoshop or making cool graphics online- zero!

My savior has always been Andy Miller of Scotland. A talented, and witty graphic artist who is the originator of Sans Pantaloons- a thrill-a - minute blog with a droll and sugary following. He is also a wonderful friend and so when I needed a logo to reflect the message of the 1st Annual Green Festival in Northeast Indiana- I turned to him.

The mission of this green festival was important because other cities have been holding these types of events for several years with great success. But, Fort Wayne? Fort Wayne hasn't always been very eco-friendly. But, recently they began to do some work on bicycle friendly trail and lanes. And, Fort Wayne also is now offering a cash incentive to citizens who deign to plant a rain garden in their yards. So, they are making a start.

Indiana ranks 49th in the United States according to Forbes America's Greenest States when it comes to areas such as carbon footprint, energy efficiency, waste management, air and water quality, and policy initiatives. Most of us who are focused on sustainable living aren't too happy with that figure.

But, the message was simple, really. I wanted to place the statue of Mad Anthony Wayne (a Fort Wayne, Indiana icon) in the middle of the world recycling symbol. The event was being held to bring community organizations, businesses, and individual activists together who all had a stake in a sustainable future for Fort Wayne. The logo had to be clear, concise and bright.

But, could I do it myself? Nope! Try as I might, I came up lacking. As I had been told one time by a very old, oily, and grizzly mechanic, "You can't know everything, ya know!"

So, I decided to go global, instead of local, and reached out to my friend across the pond, Andy Miller of Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK!

I figured that I wouldn't hear from Andy for a couple days because of the time difference and the time it would take to put the idea into form.

But, within hours the new logo arrived, green and shiny new! Ready for flyers, posters, letterheads, and all the cool stuff a good citizen event organizer needs to get the shout out in the community. Andy's work was so quick and right on the spot that GreenFEST '09 was ready for announcements that very day.

The now worn cliché had new meaning. Think Global, go local was alive and well!