Re: [MAPC-discuss] MAPC Logo Design -- Graphics, Symbolism, and

Re: [MAPC-discuss] MAPC Logo Design -- Graphics, Symbolism, and

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-11-12

I'd be very interested in seeing what the Student/Youth Caucus comes up with
as
a design and see if it works better or worse than what we have now.

However, I disagree that the peace symbol is simply a symbol of the Vietnam
era
- e.g. I see youth today hold up the peace sign all the time.

I personally very much like the logo we now use and think it would be good
to
work the bugs out of the problem of the grey-scale so there won't be
reproduction problems.  I certtainly don't think we should go without a
graphic
and only use our name.  Art communicates so much and so simply, plus we
won't
look bland if we only used words.

X

X wrote:

> Hi all!
>
> Just a heads up that the MAPC logo will be on the agenda for Tuesday
night's
> general membership meeting, and a few comments (okay, I lied - lots of
> comments) since I may not be able to attend the whole meeting.
>
> While (AFAIK) we've never voted on this, the peace sign wrapped around the
> globe has become the de facto MAPC logo.  (IIRC the general membership
> referred the logo question back to the Arts & Culture WG, and they
couldn't
> come up with anything better.)
>
> The Student/Youth Caucus has objected to this logo, and designed a new
one,
> which will be presented on Tuesday.  (As I understand it, the problem is
> that the peace sign is tied to a particular historic era, and carries
> baggage which is too hippie-ish -- as opposed to activist.  There is also
> concern that the grey-scale of the logo does not reduce or reproduce
well.)
> Their proposed logo has a half-globe, without peace sign, with paler
images
> of the globe radiating out from it.  (Lousy description, I know.)
>
> I sympathize with the S/YC's objections, but I like their proposed graphic
> even less than the one we've been using.  To me, it's not particularly
> distinctive, and a globe alone just doesn't say "peace" to me.  It could
> just as easily be the logo graphic for a global telecommunications
> corporation.
>
> Then again, I'm not sure that any graphic we pick to represent
> "peace/anti-war" will be acceptable to and truly representative of the
whole
> Coalition.  The Vietnam-era peace sign is, well, Vietnam era, and doesn't
> represent the new generation of activists.  The dove has a longer history,
> but strikes me as a bit too "Pacifist" in image, as does the rifle with a
> flower in its barrel, broken rifle, broken bomb, and a few others.  The
> other predominant image from the Vietnam era, the clenched fist, of
course,
> has the opposite connotation.  We've already been through the discussion
of
> incorporating the symbolism of the American flag; some of us think "peace
is
> patriotic" and others of us think U.S. nationalism is part of the problem.
> And while the globe could well be something that none of us object to, it
> really doesn't symbolize anything that distinguishes us from the other
side.
>
> "Madison area" is tough to symbolize graphically.  The most identifiable
> symbols are architectural (the State Capitol), and we have nothing to do
> with state government.  Doing something with the outline of the state and
> highlighting the Madison area really doesn't work graphically.  And I
doubt
> that anyone would recognize that a satellite view of the Four Lakes was
> anything other than a Rorschach inkblot test.
>
> We could try to have a symbol for everyone, incorporating lots of
different
> images in the logo, but the result would likely be an unwieldy mess.
>
> My personal opinion at this point is that we should either (1)come up with
a
> graphic that is brand new -- no baggage from past movements or
ideologies --
> (and I have no earthly idea what this would be); or (2) just go with a
> "words-only" logo, using a very distinctive typestyle and arrangement of
the
> words in our organization name.  If the typestyle and arrangement are
> distinctive enough, IMO the logo will be recognizeable and identifiable,
and
> would avoid the symbolism & baggage problems inherent in selecting any
> graphic image for a diverse coalition.
>
> X
>
> _______________________________________________
> discuss@madpeace.org mailing list
> http://lists.OpenSoftwareServices.com/mailman/listinfo/madpeace-discuss


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Monday, November 12, 2001 9:11 PM

Re: [MAPC-discuss] MAPC Logo Design -- Graphics, Symbolism, and