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.

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.