Today's TED Talk is about flags.
The basic rules of flag design include:
- Keep it simple.
- Use meaningful symbolism.
- Use two to three basic colors.
- Don't use lettering or seals (too hard to read from the ground when the flag is atop a pole).
- Be distinctive.
I live in Alameda, California. Alameda resident, Donald Ingraham, designed the Alameda flag back in the late 1980's/early 1990's as part of a city-wide contest for the design.
Based on these rules described in the TED Talk, our flag is well designed.
- It is simple — easy enough for a child to draw.
- It uses meaningful nautical symbolism to compliment Alameda's "Island City" reputation.
- It uses three basic colors: red, white, and blue.
- It doesn't use lettering nor seals.
- It is distinctive — incorporating the A for Alameda into the anchor in the middle.
Though I live in Alameda, I work in San Francisco. San Francisco, on the other hand, was specifically called out as having a bad flag design in the TED Talk. Here's how Autodesk is pitching in to help out.
You too can get involved. Visit www.sanfranciscoflag.com today.
BEFORE:
AFTER (my idea based on watching the TED Talk):
Here's what I was thinking:
- It is simple. It has two things.
- It employs symbolism since the Golden Gate bridge welcomes local and international visitors to the city.
- It uses the three colors from the original flag: yellow, red, and brown.
- It drops the lettering that appears in the original.
- It is distinctive since the combination of the Golden Gate Bridge and the trolley car are iconic for San Francisco.
Is it too detailed? Perhaps the cable supports on the bridge would not be visible if this was atop a flag pole?
"White collared conservative flashing down the street
Pointing their plastic finger at me
They're hoping soon my kind will drop and die
But I'm gonna wave my freak flag high, high
Wave on, wave on"
— Jimi Hendrix, "If Six was Nine"
Semaphores are alive in the lab.
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