Random Questions

My pastor is heading into a quick little series called Random Questions. Basically he's selecting some of the most daring and funny questions people have in their walk with God. Questions like "Did Adam and Eve have navels?" or "Is it okay if my daughter goes clubbing?" pepper the list. It is quite honest and straightforward, and it is not a this-is-the-only-answer presentation. Answers are sought in the Bible. From straight scripture and biblical-based principles, Random Questions offer some challenging answers to those who may not be ready to accept them.

Along with message, the Media Department created an introduction video, main graphic, and lower 3rds for on the screens. All of it was sweet. The intro video was a stop-motion vid of Scrabble(tm) pieces coming out of the box onto an unfolding game board. The letters spelled out "Random Questions" in a T-shape. It was pretty slick.

The lower 3rds are the graphics on the bottom part of the screen, usually identifying the speaker. The team continued the feel using the letter pieces from the game to spell the speaker's name.

The main graphic was very similar to the video, with a still picture of "Random Questions" in a T-shape with other letters scattered about. With the graphic up, I wrote down the letters I could see(ACDEEFHKRS), and started coming up with words. In a few minutes, these are the words I thought of:
Has
Hades
Chad
Ask
Dash
Cash
Deck
Rash
Shade
Shader
Had
Cad
Rack
Crash
Feed
Creed
Reed
Fear
Ear
Dear
Reef
Hear
Creek
Reek
Freak
Creak

If people really want to know what is permissible as a Christian, all one has to do is consult the Bible and ask questions to those who you trust and have the knowledge. And that is what this series is aiming to do.

Logo innovation- where the road leads.

On another message board I've been part of for a number of years, I posed a question that was left unanswered:

Where is design going in terms of trends?

For example, in the late '90s the trend for television station logos, and a few others, were circular. Look at ABC. There was a "swoop" movement, if you will, among companies. This filtered into the church logos, with FellowshipChurch.com having a swoop (still visible on GoogleEarth's view of the Dallas church), LifeChurch.tv and others.

So that got me thinking- where is the next level of logo design going to take us? Shortly my question was answered when logos became symmetrical, able to fit inside a simple square (round does fit in a square), or a variation of a shape that fits into a simple block. These logos are infinitely useful in a web environment for a few reasons.

Squares fit nicely into sidebars on web pages. Squares can be shrunk so they can fit on web browsers in the address bars. Also look great as an icon.

In the coming years, what will be the logo trend? Will we revert back to pure text logos that feature unique typefaces? Not practical for current web technology, but anything can be fixed. What about the move to mobile technology? Will logos be useful when surfing the web on your BlackBerry or PDA or BlackJack?