I am Englewood logo contest...

Now this is what I'm talking about. It looks like there is finally a call by the neighborhoods to brand themselves. In this case it's Englewood who had been represented negatively by The Chicago Neighborhoods and Slightly Insulting Chicago Posters. Now it's great to see Englewood start to take matters in their own hands:

The Invest In Englewood Advisory Council is actively seeking a locally designed logo for Englewood. The logo will be used for all marketing materials for the Invest In Englewood Campaign which is being managed by the Greater Englewood CDC.

The Invest in Englewood Campaign is a comprehensive initiative whose mission is to rebrand, rebuild, and revitalize the economy of Greater Englewood by building on existing community assets and facilitating collaboration between residents and other key stakeholders.

The contest is for students of Englewood in grades 7th- 12th who live or go to school in the Englewood neighborhood. We are working to create signage, banners, yard signs, t-shirts, etc. and hope to have a symbol/logo that represent the pride, hope, and opportunities that lie within Englewood. We are accepting submissions until November 28th.

Download attached form for contest details.

The Invest In Englewood Advisory Council is actively seeking a locally designed logo for Englewood. The logo will be used for all marketing materials for the Invest In Englewood Campaign which is being managed by the Greater Englewood CDC.

The Invest in Englewood Campaign is a comprehensive initiative whose mission is to rebrand, rebuild, and revitalize the economy of Greater Englewood by building on existing community assets and facilitating collaboration between residents and other key stakeholders.

The theme that will be use for many of these materials will be Rebrand. Rebuild. Revitalize. We hope the logo/symbol will represent these three important elements of the campaign. For more details call 866-845-1032 or email your submissions to abutler @ greaterenglewoodcdc . org!

We need everyone's help in order to REBRAND. REBUILD. REVITALIZE Englewood!

And again, we're going to make another call for more people who are artists or graphic designers to make logos or brands for their respective communities. Hopefully we will all see what the residents of Englewood can eventually come up with.

Flyer is below, if you want to spread the word!

Buy your neighborhoods prints from The Chicago Neighborhoods

Logo prints are now available at The Chicago Neighborhoods. Buy a print and help represent the neighborhood where you live. Especially if you live in the various neighborhoods on this part of town. And also remember you can still buy t-shirts as well.

Neighborhood Pride on a Poster - Gapers Block Chicago

Neighborhood Pride on a Poster - Gapers Block Chicago

Check out http://studiochris.com/ for some examples of neighborhood posters. I look forward to seeing a Chatham poster although I'm sure there are some graphic artists in the neighborhood that can produce something similar to allow residents to show their pride in their neighborhoods.

Over the history of this blog we have shown neighborhood logos for both Englewood and Chatham. We even wondered why Chatham doesn't have at least neighborhood markers for the neighborhood although apparently Park Manor and Grand Crossing do have markers on opposite sides of the expressway.

What other ways do you show pride in the neighborhoods where you live?

Chicagoist: More Neighborhoods Get "The Chicago Neighborhoods" Treatment

Chicagoist recently featured the many designs from The Chicago Neighborhoods project. Amongst those shown there are the logos for Chatham, Englewood, & Bronzeville.

We already know people from Chatham on Facebook already like the design created for that particular neighborhood. A more negative reception for the Englewood design was seen on our blog.

Also I add Bronzeville primarily because it's another predominantly Black neighborhood that deserves some due. I would consider this a home run and especially for the description where Bronzeville residents didn't like their community being referred to as merely the "Black belt or ghetto".

Anyway I share this so that you all will still see how others may perceive our communities. I also share this so that you will be allowed every opportunity to share you thoughts on the various designs for various city neighborhood. You should go to Chicagoist to share your thoughts as well!

Also note Chicago Neighborhoods are on Twitter & Facebook as well!

The Chicago Neighborhoods: Chatham

You thought we've forgotten about them? Well anyway on December 30th they unveiled their neighborhood logo for Chatham with a picture of a block of bungalows. The lettering almost evokes Pride Cleaners near 79th & St. Lawrence. I like it because it shows the neat character of that neighborhood and of course with this description:

Chatham has the "distinction of being the only neighborhood in Chicago that developed from a European American middle-class community into one composed of middle-class African Americans." The shift happened in the 1950s when these middle-class African Americans were drawn to the area because of the strict zoning codes and property standards, high levels of community organization, and good schools. African American residency of Chatham was less than 1 percent in 1950, but by 1960 it jumped to over 63 percent.

The racial transition, while rapid, was smooth compared to other parts of the city undergoing the same type of demographic change. For example, "several area churches welcomed blacks into their congregations, and the Chatham–Avalon Park Community Council began to include African American residents in their organization" in 1955. When the changeover was completed, African American residents worked "diligently to maintain the middle-class character of their community." Because of this, Chatham continues to thrive, and the neighborhood has served as a home base for numerous successful black-owned businesses, including Johnson Products Company, the Independence Bank of Chicago, Seaway National Bank of Chicago, and a branch of the Illinois Service Federal Savings and Loan Association.

There were comments that didn't like their logo for Englewood as it notes the serial killer H.H. Holmes and his building where he committed his crimes. Hopefully in the New Year many of you will like this entry for another one of our communities.

BTW, I will again make a call for those of you with graphic design or artistic experience to create your own neighborhood logos. Hopefully your visions will show the positive aspects of our communities!

How about this for a way to attract visitors?

Great for public safety

I saw some of these signs on Facebook, and was thinking...what if we put up signs like these along 79th street and other areas? Would they attract good business?

They would have the novelty of the Cows, but be far less expensive and much simpler to put up.

 A quick Internet search showed that artist Jeff Shell has done these all over Manhattan.

What do you think? Love 'em? Or hate 'em?

On Bourbon Street in New Orleans

I've got an idea

Uptown Update (recently they've gotten media attention for a video posted there of a "riot" in their part of town last week) has a page that allows readers to download and print off flyers that advertise the blog. I think this blog needs to do the same and I like to think I'm creative but I feel I need help in getting some ideas for flyers off the ground.

If I was to do that in the future I would like to offer rough sketches of my ideas for Sixth Ward flyers. For instance what I'd like to do is create a neighborhood watch sign that also advertises the blog with blog name and URL address. Of course that's not the only way to advertise the blog, however, I feel that it could have some use other than just as a display sign. I hoped that people could come here and report what's going on in their neck of the woods.

That's where you the reader comes in. Some of you may be better graphic designers than I am. Some of you may have better ideas for a sign than I do. Besides a neighborhood watch sign isn't the only idea worth playing around with.

If you do have any ideas, you are more than free to drop an e-mail or leave a comment in this post. If you know your way around any computer graphics program or if you are an artist then get in touch. Your input and skills are certainly needed although I can't say I can pay you at the moment.

Either way this is a worthwhile project. Hopefully such signs/flyers will be available online likely through Scribd and thus available for download and printing. These signs/flyers can be printed either at home or office or anywhere there are printing services available.

Until that time, however, let's see what we can come up with.

What do you think?

Often times I read around a lot of these websites and I see their design or lack thereof and most of them say that they hope to match their typical web environments. Some sites I have seen hoped to match the Drudge Report. In my case I try to match the Capitol Fax Blog. That's why in the past you have often seen a three-column format.

Anyway should I return to a three-column format after the holidays? Leave a comment or send me an e-mail. It's still in the sidebar!