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July: Patriotic Design

In July, America's eyes turn toward patriotism, and the celebration of the Declaration of Independence.
      During June, DTG readers were asked to relate insights, emotions and antidotes about patriotic art and design in their country. Evidently this wasn't one of the more popular themes because it brought the least number of responses as any monthly theme in the past. And, only three of those actually gave any kind of insight beyond "register me for a prize." Well, the purpose of this monthly campaign is to get designers talking to designers.

S.C. Doody Celebrates Olympic Design

Sarah writes:
      Having spent my childhood in Canada, I can�t help but bring attention to Roots, the official outfitter of the Canadian Olympic Team (and now, outfitter to the USA, Great Britain, and Barbados).
      I believe the Olympic collections are successful because of the combination of the simple visual design, simplicity of design, and comfort and durability of style. The designs are surprisingly simple -- usually just the name of the country and a symbol (for Canada, the maple leaf). So many times designers tend to over design -- and boost their own ego -- rather than deliver a design that successfully communicates.
      In the case of the Roots Olympic Collection; the message is clear and the design is clean. The patriotism that is felt can be attributed to the fact that customers become a part of an experience that is larger than themselves.
      We need more patriotic design because I believe that it helps people focus less on the issues of the country and more on the people of the country.
[END QUOTE] Doody is a design professional from Portland, Oregon, USA who uses Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, Quark, and Maya with Windows XP -- www.messiahmadonna.com

When is Patriotic Design good or bad?

R Ramirez comments:
      Patriotic Design is good when it is well thought out and the elements are purposefully placed to draw the intended audience into the design. It should speak for itself.
      It is bad (like on alot of t-shirts in my area) when someone slaps graphics on the design stage and sells it as patriotic because it has an eagle and a flag in it. The elements need to work as one.
[END QUOTE] Ramirez is a design professional from Mansfield, Ohio, running Indesign2 and photoshop7 on her G4 Panther

Reflect your heart's thoughts about your country

Atul Bansal says:
      The design should reflect your heart thoughts about your country i am a designer i feel proud while make a patriotic design. patriotic design must contain patriotism which spreads the feelings to others. You have a feeling of country love when you are making a patriotic design.
[END QUOTE] Bansal is a web designer from Ghaziabad, UP, India

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