If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then you can consider me quite flattered. Imagine my surprise recently when I saw a couple of ideas clearly lifted straight from the 989 Design portfolio.

This is, of course, the 989 Design logo:

Then as I was browing one day, I see this:

Ad Index guys, you’re embarassing me with your clear imitation of my logo. I did, after all, invent the red circle with reversed out characters.

And then to further the flattery, I refer you to the Great Lakes Loons Man of Steal poster:

Four or five weeks later, I was sitting in Brewtopia when I spotted the cover of the new Tri-City Magazine:

Stop it, you guys, you’re making me blush! I really appreciate that so many people have taken the time to mimic my work but you’re embarrassing me with all of this imitation.

Okay, to be clear, I’m being very tongue-in-cheek about this. Neither Ad Index nor Tri-City Magazine copied my work. There are trends in design and there are good ideas that happen simultaneously. Each of these is a case of  coincidence. It’s just dumb luck that I spotted the Ad Index logo (haven’t been able to find it since), but when I saw it the 989 logo was the first thing I thought of. As far as the TCM cover, that’s just a funny coincidence that we each had a Superman idea at the same time. I’ll take my Superman over theirs, though, because while Mike (on the magazine cover) is a great guy and a great golfer, Dee is going to be playing for the Dodgers one day.

Left-handed pitcher Victor Garate became the second alum of the Great Lakes Loons to crack a major league roster when we was acquired by the Washington Nationals (admittedly, calling the Nats “major league” is a bit of a stretch–one baseball professional I know referred to Washington as Quadruple-A ball). After a solid season at AA Chattanooga, the Nationals picked up Garate as the player to be named in the Ronnie Belliard/Luis Garcia trade. The Nats claimed Garate off waivers and immediately put him on their big league (again, a stretch) roster. Garate made his major league debut pitching in relief on September 5th, giving up 2 earned runs in one inning.

I’m sure he wasn’t happy with that first outing, but hopefully he is going to get the chance to make the most of his first chance to be in the show.

Congratulations, Victor. Everybody here in mid-Michigan is rooting for you.

The first Loons poster we designed this year is their 2009 promotional schedule poster, which will be given away to the first 5,000 fans at the game on Saturday, April 19th. The poster highlights events taking place throughout the 2009 season. Highlights this year include annual favorites such as Birdzerk!, Tom Watt the Buffett Man, as well as appearances by the Bucket Boys and Dave the Horn Guy.

The promotion I am most excited about shooting will be personal appearances by three former Detroit Tigers, as part of the Loons celebration of the Tigers 1984 World Series Champion team. We will be hosting Dan Petry, Milt Wilcox and Willie Hernandez. We’re also giving away bobbleheads of Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris, and Chet Lemon. You can purchase a six-game ticket to be sure to be there for all of the ’84 Tigers games. 

I know it’s too small to really see the poster, but I think it came out pretty fun. If you aren’t previously committed on Saturday night, you should definitely go see the Loons play the South Bend Silver Hawks and get your 2009 schedule poster.

I’ve written about Clayton Kershaw a couple of other times and I imagine I will write about him again in the future. Clayton was the young gun superstar-to-be who pitched for the Loons during our inaugural season. He is a lanky left-hander with a curve ball that makes grown men buckle at the knees. 

He has been hailed as everything from ‘the next big thing’ to ‘a once-in-a-generation talent’ by scouts and baseball publications. Even with all of the hype, he was really a pretty nice kid. At left is a poster I shot and designed of Clayton. He was really easy to work with and made the photo shoot an easy process. 

Anyway…Clayton rocketed from low-A ball in Midland to AA ball in Jacksonville to the Los Angeles Dodgers in about 18 months time. He spent most of last year with the Dodgers and really started getting into a groove by the time the season ended. His first outing this year was strong, so he looked poised to have a great season. But did anybody expect what happened last night?

7 innings pitched, 1 hit allowed, struck out 13 batters. 13 Ks in seven innings? That’s siiiiiick! 

Unfortunately, he didn’t get the win because the Dodgers couldn’t give him much run support. He was a total pro about it after the game, though. He was happy enough that the Dodgers won the game. 

“I’m fine with it,” said Kershaw. “I mean, there’s going to be a game down the road where I go five innings and give up five runs and get the win. That’s just part of baseball.”

The kid just turned 21, had a fantastic outing in only his second start of the season and displays that kind of poise and professionalism. I am really impressed with him. Way to be a great player and a great sportsman, Clayton. 

Good luck with the rest of your season.

About three weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a woman I met at a Bay Area Chamber of Commerce event. We only met the one time and didn’t really know each other, but she wrote to ask if I would be willing to let her son spend a couple of hours in the studio, interviewing me and getting an idea of what it is to be a graphic designer. I think part of why I belong to the Chamber is because I don’t just want to have a business here, but I chose to build my life here. And as part of that, I want to be involved with the community. I told her that I was happy to do it so we arranged for her son to come in to the studio for a couple of hours.

The son, whose name I am going to withhold because he is a minor, is a really nice, normal kid. He goes to school at Saginaw Academy of Science & Arts (I didn’t even know such a school existed in the area). He likes art, but it isn’t his only interest. He came to the studio with a few pages of questions about what I do. As somebody who writes profiles professionally, I have to tell you, he came armed with some really bright questions. I was really impressed with his preparation and we talked for a while about my career and stuff like that.

Time passed very quickly while we just sat there and talked. I asked him a little bit about what sort of art he likes and what he likes to do. In our back-and-forth, I got really excited talking about my career. I came to design through a back door, but I feel really lucky to have a career that I genuinely enjoy. I love going to work, I love being in the studio, doing the actual design, etc. I’ve never lost sight of how much I appreciate being able to do something I love and get paid for it, but in talking with this young many it sort of rekindled the fire a little bit. 

I’m really grateful that I had the opportunity to spend some time talking with him. I know I got a lot out of it and I hope he feels the same way. After he left I was picking things up before heading home and noticed that he left me a message on the Etch-a-Sketch. He also took the time to write me a thank you note and mail it, but for me the Etch-a-Sketch message was perfect. You’re welcome.

On a completely unrelated note…I thought I’d do a little show and tell with the other objects in the photo above. Along with the Etch-a-Sketch note we have:

• A photo of myself and Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe. This photo (taken by Barry Rankin) was taken on an evening when my job was to spend a few hours taking photos of Gordie Howe while he signed autographs. Other than to say hello, we didn’t talk during the autograph session, but Gordie kept hamming it up for me. At the end of the evening, I had the chance to go up and chat with him for a minute. I can’t tell you what a huge thrill that was!

• A Detroit Red Wings puck autographed by Gordie. He had just been signing his name for most things, but because we had “worked together” he surprised me and personalized it. When he handed it to me he said, “Here you go…To Mr. Photo from Mr. Hockey.” 

• A signed print of a photo I took of Ryne Sandberg when he was coaching the Peoria Chiefs. 

• A photo of me from the first time I met the Stanley Cup. My friend Jim Biewer, now with the Detroit Red Wings, took this photo. I had about thirty minutes where it was just me and the Cup. I took lots of photos, but mostly I just read the names in the rings. I wanted to touch it, but I knew better. In any of the three or four times I’ve been around the Cup, I haven’t touched it.

• Tucked between the Etch-a-Sketch and the Red Wings puck, you can see a Great Lakes Loons baseball peeking out. 

Man, do I have a cool job, or what?