The final MKE Creatives meetup of 2015 happened at Anodyne Coffee in a decidedly MKE-centric way, with a vexillologic presentation from Steve Kodis, of the Milwaukee Flag initiative. Before his presentation though, there was the usual networking and catch-up amidst the creatives. This month, we had in attendance, a copywriter, romance writer, voice-over artist/jumbotron operator, content creator/marketer, storyteller/actor, graphic designer, socmed agent, art educator, fine artist, certified public accountant, artist/marketing consultant, and photographer.
Steve gave us an introduction to himself and how it was while pursuing his undergrad degree in graphic design that he became interested in flags. He began to look at more and more flags, and began to see commonalities in the flags that seemed the best designed. He saw five principles of design that the “good” flags all seemed to share.
The good flags all seemed to:
1. be very Simple,
2. incorporate Symbolism into the design – rather than literal representations of things,
3. bold use of Color,
4. an absence of Lettering or official Seals,
5. be very Distinct.
Then he showed us Milwaukee’s flag …that ignores every single item on his list. It’s a flag that attempts to do too much, thereby becoming just a jumble of ideas. He shared with us what Chicago’s flag looks like and the difference is stark. I know folks often bristle at comparisons to Chicago, and I’m one of them, but this time is definitely a moment where Milwaukee could take a lesson in design.
This led Steve to start a push to get Milwaukee a new flag. A talented designer himself, Steve recognized that a flag representing an entire city should have input from that city. He created the Milwaukee Flag website, and people can submit their designs ideas! So far, he’s received over 200 submissions!
Steve’s talk was very interesting, and I’m so glad he could close out this year’s MKE Creatives with us! Find out more about his project HERE.
See past MKE Creative meetups HERE.
(also, seen below, romance author, Liz Lincoln, has a new book out – check her out here)
