989 Design Blog has moved.

It actually moved a long time ago, but I recently decided that it isn't worth the time I spend updating two separate blog pages. If I can figure out an easy way to port my WordPress blog to this page, I will do it. Otherwise, just know that you can find my blog at my website.
989 Design Blog

No, really...you can't touch this.

I've written about Clayton Kershaw a couple of other times and I imagine I will write about him again in the future. Clayton was the young gun superstar-to-be who pitched for the Loons during our inaugural season. He is a lanky left-hander with a curve ball that makes grown men buckle at the knees.

He has been hailed as everything from 'the next big thing' to 'a once-in-a-generation talent' by scouts and baseball publications. Even with all of the hype, he was really a pretty nice kid. At left is a poster I shot and designed of Clayton. He was really easy to work with and made the photo shoot an easy process.

Anyway...Clayton rocketed from low-A ball in Midland to AA ball in Jacksonville to the Los Angeles Dodgers in about 18 months time. He spent most of last year with the Dodgers and really started getting into a groove by the time the season ended. His first outing this year was strong, so he looked poised to have a great season. But did anybody expect what happened last night?

7 innings pitched, 1 hit allowed, struck out 13 batters. 13 Ks in seven innings? That's siiiiiick!

Unfortunately, he didn't get the win because the Dodgers couldn't give him much run support. He was a total pro about it after the game, though. He was happy enough that the Dodgers won the game.

"I'm fine with it," said Kershaw. "I mean, there's going to be a game down the road where I go five innings and give up five runs and get the win. That's just part of baseball."

The kid just turned 21, had a fantastic outing in only his second start of the season and displays that kind of poise and professionalism. I am really impressed with him. Way to be a great player and a great sportsman, Clayton.

Good luck with the rest of your season.

Some People Really Like Business Cards

This YouTube video has been bouncing around for the past couple of days and I finally got around to watching it. You absolutely need to watch this. This guy kills me.

Looks like crap? It is crap.

"You see that card? This is the most impressive business card I've ever seen. It's mine."
"My card is die cut. My card is foil stamped. My card is embossed."

As soon as I watched it, my mind went immediately back to American Psycho. It won't let me embed the video, so I will just post the link.

American Psycho on YouTube



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Bay City After 6

Somehow, and I don't quite understand why, the idea of networking has become dominated by business and chambers of commerce. There's nothing wrong with their version of networking, but sometimes it seems like people doing chamber-type networking are only concerned about collecting the most business cards and working on their elevator pitch. It seems to me that networking should be more about just meeting people and getting to know them. If I meet someone and there is a chance to work together, so much the better, but I think getting to know people is reward enough. They don't need to hear my elevator pitch.

I've been working with Jenna Schrumpf of Dobson Home Health Care the past few weeks and our pet project is creating an informal networking group for professional-types. We initially started talking about it because we were both surprised that the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce didn't offer a young professionals group similar to the groups in Midland and Saginaw*.

Jenna and I decided that we'd go ahead and start a group of our own and see if anybody was interested. As we started talking to a few people about it, we were surprised that a number of people were more interested in a non-Chamber group. It isn't anything against the Chamber, but people seem to want something a little bit different. So we created Bay City After 6.

My beef with many YP groups is that they all have an age requirement of something like 25–40. Maybe it's just me being overly sensitive since I will be 40 years old in a few days, but I think putting an age limit—even if it's just a guideline—is discriminatory. What happens when I turn 41? Do I have to go to Carnival? It's kind of like refusing to call your group the Old Boys Club, but requiring a Y-chromosome to belong.

Bay City After 6 is focused on the social aspects of networking. Maybe it will benefit your business, too, but that is only because growing your group of friends and acquaintances will benefit your whole life. Initially we are just planning on having a couple of happy hours and talking to everyone who shows up (assuming anyone shows up, that is) about what it is they would like to see happen both with the group and in the Tri-Cities (I still can't bring myself to use the other name).

We aren't planning any business functions, but if people seem interested in having meetings with actual speakers and such, we can do that (in fact, we've already had one professional speaker/motivator offer his services). It's our group, we can do anything we like.

Our first meeting will be held this Thursday, April 2nd, at Midland Street Jack's (formerly Lumberjack's) on Midland Street in Bay City. Anybody and everybody is welcome to join. Also, the link above takes you to our Facebook page. We are probably going to get a blog going in the next couple of weeks, so we'll keep you updated.

Hope to see you on Thursday night.

Rebranding the Detroit Lions

Anybody who grew up in Michigan or who follows the NFL is familiar with the logo above and all of the baggage attached to it. It's the logo of the Detroit Lions, a once-proud franchise whose 2008–2009 season was the worst in NFL history. From the Ford family's disastrous ownership to bad management decisions to bad luck, the Lions are in the midst of putting together the worst decade in the history of any NFL franchise.

You can't fire the owners (unfortunately), but you can make a lot of other changes. Along with management changes (several of which weren't really much of a change) and a lot of personnel changes, the Lions have decided to scrap the old-style Detroit Lions logo (above) and replace it with this:


Sorry for the small size, but it's the best I could find. As you can see, the basic shape of the Lion is still the same, but they've added in some nice broad strokes to give the logo a little more motion. They've also sharpened up the Lion's face, adding an eye and making the snarl more pronounced. It certainly looks a lot tougher and more menacing—now let's wait to see if the team matches up to the logo.

Overall, I like the logo change. I'm pleased that even though this is a big change for them, the didn't go too far. I'm glad they kept the Honolulu blue, as well. I know that some fans don't like the blue very much and don't think it's a very tough-looking color, but it is one of the classic NFL logos. Keeping your traditions intact while giving your franchise a contemporary look is a good way to go about rebranding.

In addition to the logo, they have replaced the old, western-style "LIONS" logotype with this:

I don't love it, but I don't hate it. The old type was really, really dated and always looked out of place to me. This fits in with the new logo and it has a little more motion to it. It's fine.

My only regret in this is that I didn't write about it last week when I first saw a leaked version of the logo. It wasn't the exact logo, but it was pretty close. Had I written about this then, it would be a little more timely. This is still pretty fresh news, but next time I won't sit on the news for a week.

My Brush with Political Greatness

Yesterday was the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in Bay City. Don't even ask why the parade was on Sunday, the 22nd. I can't make sense of half of the stuff that goes on in Bay City. Anyway, as part of the parade, United States Senator Debbie Stabenow came to town to walk in the parade.

I was in Brewtopia last week and Aaron Bolt—the proprietor and genteman purveyor of fine coffees—told me that Senator Stabenow was going to come to the coffee shop after the parade for a meet-and-greet with the public. I was planning on shooting the parade anyway so I planned on coming to the coffee shop to get a few photos of the Senator in hopes of maybe getting a good shot to include on the studio Wall of Fame (along with Lance Parrish, Tommy Lasorda and Ryne Sandberg).

I figured the place was going to be wall-to-wall because, after all, who wouldn't jump at a chance to meet a sitting U.S. Senator? You may not know this about me, but I am a bit of a political junkie. I used to do some work for a U.S. Congressman (he who shall not be named), but couldn't enjoy the work because his politics were...um...only slightly left of the Kaiser. So the chance to take photos of and maybe meet a politician who I have a lot of respect for was a pretty great opportunity.

As it turns out, while I was shooting the parade I ran into my friend Terry King, who was also taking photos. I mentioned that Senator Stabenow was going to be at Brewtopia so he came along to shoot some photos, too. I'm used to being behind the lens and don't really care much about having my photo taken. Even when I got to hang out with Tommy Lasorda, for example, I didn't bother him for a photo together. I've had the good fortune to meet a lot of interesting and well-known people and athletes and the only two I have ever had a photo taken with are Senator Stabenow and Gordie Howe. Running into Terry was just good luck, though, because it gave me a chance to have my photo taken with the Senator.

We talked a little bit about Bay City and about her hometown of Clare and we touched on Michigan State basketball. We only talked for a few minutes, but it was really a great honor and I'm grateful to the Senator and her staff for taking the time to come to Bay City. I'm also thankful that Aaron let me know the Senator was going to be at Brewtopia. And to round out my Gratitude Trinity, thanks to Terry for taking the photos and getting them to me.

Also, here's an interesting fact...did you know that it is Constitutionally forbidden to appear taller than a member of the U.S. Senate? The Senator is standing on a six-inch platform they keep handy so that she appears taller and more powerful. Okay...I made all of that up. I'm just not very tall.

Rebranding just for the sake of rebranding.

Anybody out there watch Battlestar Galactica? If the answer is no, then Dwight Schrute might want to point out that you're an idiot. I wouldn't go so far, but I do think you have missed out on some pretty great television the past few years. No point in bothering to watch it now, though...the series finale is on tonight.

If the answer is yes, then you know that Battlestar Galactica has been a huge hit for the Sci Fi Channel. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think it's probably the highest rated show Sci Fi has ever had. BG isn't the only big series they've ever had, but it has garnered the most critical acclaim as well as created a loyal fanbase as rabid as any in television (with the possible exception of Monty Python stuff).

So what does any network do when they're riding the crest of an all-time high wave?

They decide to rebrand. From now on, the Sci Fi Channel will be called...



That's right...it's Syfy. How very uninspired. Why the big change? According to Syfy president Dave Howe suggested that "Sci Fi" was too generic a term to trademark, so they came up with something which "seeks to distinguish the channel and its programming from cable competitors."

Personally, I always liked Sci Fi's little logo. Everybody knew what the name meant and what the logo was. Creating a new brand at this time seems to be a really goofy decision. Sounds to me like somebody somewhere in the chain felt like they needed to put their stamp on the product. Why does management feel like the product isn't really theirs until they get their fingerprints all over it?

On top of the timing, the logo itself is really pretty sad. Ooohhh...a font. With a 3D look. And a tagline. I mean no disrespect to the people who designed the logo (I don't know who it was just yet) because I am reasonably sure that the execs who made the decision wouldn't know a good logo if it bit them in the ass.

Goodbye, little Saturn and Sci Fi logo, I will miss you.