Tuesday, August 16, 2011

first Youngstown "Pecha Kucha" will be downtown thursday 25 August

Pecha Kucha - coming to downtown youngstown

See the countdown per second, with Youngstown's #1 meeting here among those around the world.

All presentations will be in the Pecha Kucha "20 x 20" format...
- 20 slides, for 20 seconds each, which is 6 minutes and 40 seconds total
- short, impactful, creative/"what interests you" is key

Here are the FAQs:

1. What is Pecha Kucha Night?
“Pecha Kucha” is a Japanese term for the sound of conversation (“chit-chat”).

Pecha Kucha Night is a presentation format in which people from different professions can share ideas about their creative works in an enjoyable and entertaining ambiance, regardless of who they are: famous or obscure, professional or amateur, adult or child, teacher or student, veteran or novice, etc.

Pecha Kucha Night is, therefore, the night to “strut your good stuff” with freedom, equality, and creativity.

2. Who initiated it?

Pecha Kucha Night was originally devised by employees of Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDa) in Tokyo six years ago.

3. Who has already organized it?

The Pecha Kucha Night format has spread virally to nearly 450 cities across the world, and now it's in Youngstown.

4. Who will be there?
Anyone wanted to watch creative presentations, or who will be sharing their creative ideas through a powerpoint conversation.


You can ask questions to

Friday, August 05, 2011

the Rocky Ridge neighborhood-wide Garage Sale is saturday, August 6

The section of the west side known as the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood is holding a neighborhood-wide garage sale, from 9am to close, on Saturday August 6.

Look for green balloons around the neighborhood, as those people have the $5 sale permits from the city, but also maps to distribute of all the other participating houses which are spread throughout the streets.

Can you create a managed cluster of commerce to bring people into the neighborhood?

Tours of the neighborhood and its amenities for homebuyers will be available...

The participating homes are located all throughout the Rocky Ridge, and you can find a map of the neighborhood on this link: (map)

Can the neighborhood-wide sale grow into a city-wide sale at some point?

In the Netherlands, it's a country-wide garage sale on Koninginnedag, April 30 of every year.

"Koninginnedag" means queen's day, and across Nederlands people (especially kids) sell stuff in the morning on blankets, and lots of parties go on throughout the day, usually ending up with debauchery on boats floating in canals in the evening.

Maybe we've found a new use for the Mahoning River...

Thursday, August 04, 2011

the design elements of the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood logo

Design excellence is a craft which is often appreciated, but not often pursued.

One example of recent thoughtful graphic design:

The logo of the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood designed by Sandra Cika, creative director of Youngstown's Insite Consulting.

To get to the final logo, Insite performed face-to-face and paper interviews with residents, toured the neighborhood, created and displayed multiple design options, and after a truly iterative process, this new neighborhood association chose the design and colors above.

The image really captures many of the distinctive elements of the neighborhood.

- First, the leaves represent the neighborhood's connection to Mill Creek MetroParks. Some people have to drive to a park, but for Rocky Ridge, Mill Creek Park is their backyard.

- Instead of one leaf, there are multiple leaves showing that the many people of a neighborhood group is better than one.

- The design of the leaves themselves are oak leaves, native to this section of Northeast Ohio.

- Notice the negative space between the stems of the leaves, which outlines the well-kept houses that are the norm in the rocky Ridge section of the west side of Youngstown.

- You'll also see the outline of the ridge itself between the words “rocky” and “ridge”. The physical ridge with its jagged rock forms, is visible along Bears' Den Drive at the neighborhood's southern edge within Mill Creek Park.

- Additionally, the outline of the ridge is a representation of the sled riding hill in the neighborhood which people from around the region enjoy during the winter.

- Having a clear, crisp logo with a single color (Rocky Ridge Green - pantone number 3298) will allow for easier use and replication on letterheads, t-shirts, tattoos, etc.

Design is important.

Thoughtful design creates a response.
Thoughtful design produces clarity.
Thoughtful design improves function.

Look around downtown youngstown and/or the output of local organizations.

Do they follow good design techniques which improve function and meaning?