Creating a Logo, Part 2

I'm so thrilled that we've officially launched the Facebook fan page. This means that it is officially official; that I can share the many of the details of our production with confidence. Back in July, I wrote a post about what it was like to create a logo. I thought that this time around, I could share some visuals with you all to back up my claims!

The process began as a conversation between my college friend Rachel Yonda and me. She offered to help us with some Big Top work, and I jumped at the opportunity! We communicated completely via email, but this manner of communication actually supported our dialogue rather than hinder it.

First, Rachel asked me for some ideas, what I was thinking I'd like. I offered to sketch some ideas for her to work with.

The sketch was incredibly basic and done on whatever kind of paper I could grab at the time. I knew I wanted a tent to be involved in some manner, and I wanted to title of the show to POP! I wrote down a few colors I was thinking about.

Rachel moved forward with the ideas. A few days later, I received a FANTASTIC set of options with a color guide. I had so many options and was not sure which direction I should go in. I asked for many people's opinions. Ultimately, though, the choice was mine to make.

I REALLY loved that elephant, but I immediately leaned towards a traditional looking circus tent with red and white stripes. I was so certain of my decision! I began stamping the logo everywhere: on the story bible, on the scripts, on the contracts. Everywhere! I was so, so proud of it!

Unfortunately, when I finally got around to buying the matching fabric at IKEA, they had sold out (read the original "Creating a Logo" post for the full story of emotional despair here). My second choice was a smaller, yellow striped fabric. I was thrilled with my scenic design choice, but this meant a new logo and adjusting all production materials that had already been marked with the red and white tent. I went back to Rachel begging for some changes, and she gladly helped me out (thank you, Rachel!). We discussed the thinner, yellow stripes, and talked a lot about font colors that would compliment the new tent.

This yellow tent is our final and official logo. As I compare this logo to our original red and white logo, I see how much better it is!

The long tale of the logo is really the story of my first experience in production: you have all these ideas, you hire someone to help you with those ideas, they give you a lot of options, you're forced to make many choices, you inevitably have a huge hiccup, you sit and think, you make a choice, and you thank God for the support of your friends and peers who are willing to help you out until everything is perfect.

PS We were also able to include the elephant in our animated opening! Stay tuned...

Big Top Fitness: FBO

I am so excited to finally share more detailed information about my Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship project! The program is called Big Top Fitness. It is a series of interstitials that promote physical activity using circus arts. Post-production is so close to being finished, and we're gearing up for summative research on the 5 episodes.

My favorite part of this production has been working with amazing artists and great friends. Fortunately, they are one in the same. In the next few weeks, I'll be profiling some of these fantastic people and sharing samples of the work they created for the show.

We are FBO (Facebook Official). Please check out our Facebook page and Like us! Below are some pictures from our rehearsals and film shoots at SCAT. You can find more on our Facebook page!


Rehearsing at 440 Studios in New York City


Prepping for our pilot at SCAT in Somerville, MA


Our new fake grass. It took a great deal of patience and financial flexibility to acquire this.

I love television. I spent most of my two weeks of holiday break sitting in front of my parents' television in New Jersey. Television, in its traditional sense, is banned from my Massachusetts studio apartment. I just don't have the space for a TV in the apartment, and I know that it would be an incredible distraction from my graduate work. I save a few hours each week to catch up on shows that are really important to me. Thanks to the magic of Hulu, I am able to do this! After work, time at the gym, and class assignments have been completed, I snuggle up with my laptop and experience sheer bliss. I really love television.

Upon returning to Boston this weekend, I slipped back into my ways. I took walks, read blogs, and relaxed with a cup of tea and a Hulu session. I started to browse by show titles. I was shocked at how many new programs have been added to the website! I was especially suprised to see this page:



For the longest time, I thought Miss Kitty was a design fixture and a character for character's sake. I really enjoyed buying Sanrio products as a kid. They always felt very fresh in their pastel colors and pasty plastic packaging. I had no idea that there was a television show in '87 and '88. The program didn't last long and yet people still love Hello Kitty. What is it about that cat that has endured more than three decades?

What shocked me most about this program was it's title: Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater. This is clearly referring to Shelley Duvall's Fairie Tale Theatre, which was best known in the early '80s but is still new to many individuals.

Resolution Revelation

I rarely make New Year's resolutions. For whatever reason, summer has always held a greater promise to me. As May ends, I decide what I'd like to learn or do in the forthcoming three months. Perhaps the pressure of 365 days is just too much.

I find myself in an interesting personal place this January. As of tomorrow I enter my final semester of graduate school. I'll also be finalizing all details of my Rogers Project and will be completing my thesis in the next few months. I just need something new to get me through this.

I decided that I needed to stimulate my creativity just a bit more and challenge myself to think about the kind of work I want to create when this whole grad school thing is over. This year I'll be coming up with a new children's media idea or pitch each day. Yes, each day. Life happens, and there may be days that go by where I just can't do it...but I have to try! I truly believe inspiration is everywhere, everyday. Because it's way easier to use Twitter from my phone than the blog, I'll be tweeting these ideas each day. You can follow me at: ChrissyZags

They don't have to be super involved or fully thought out. Who knows, I may come up with a single character and spend the rest of the year deciding what the world around them looks like. I'm so excited to take this journey. I hope you'll take it with me!

The History of the Snowman: Not a Book Report

I can't remember the last time I wrote an actual book report. Maybe it was in middle school? Joe has been writing some amazing pieces for his blog The Composite including reviews of the 100 best books of 2010 (according to the NYTimes). I was so inspired by his love of reading and decision to review, that I decided to give it a try myself.


Each year as the holiday season rolls around, I pull out one of my favorite books The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein. I received my copy about three years ago from an uncle. I connected with the book's humorous cover and decided to dive right in. By the next day, I had finished. It was that good.

It's been a year since my last read of the book, and I was excited to re-educate myself. It's filled with SO MUCH information about snowmen. My three year old copy is filled with pencil marks, highlighted sentences, and dog-eared pages. I've devised a list of the top five reasons why I love this book:

5: It's full of pictures including historical engravings, film posters, and Eckstein's own sketches. They do a great job of supporting the text!

4: Fully researched. Eckstein really did his homework here. It's so full of information and ends with a pretty substantial reference index.

3: Educational and funny. Eckstein manages to thread his dry sense of humor throughout the historically accurate and informative history of the snowman.

2: It fosters an individual exploration of snowman culture. Check out this great stuff I found on Etsy! Currently over 22,000 results to my "snowman" search! I personally love the pearl snowman earrings...

1: Eckstein facilitates a very interesting discussion about snowmen and their place in the art world. Did you know that in 1400's, the artists in Florence would populate the city with snowmen? I was particularly struck by his statement that a snowman could be the only life size sculpture an individual ever creates.

I've continued to think about this idea of snowmen and sculpture. It is a fantastic and supremely easy, cleaner way to introduce a young person to art and the art of sculpture.

Thanks to Joe, I've been listening to this tune non-stop. I never thought of calling a guy a "snowman." The male equivalent of ice queen? Maybe! Enjoy...

Bears - I'm a Snowman - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

This winter, I urge you to read The History of the Snowman and make a snowman with a young person you love.

Happy Holidays!

Children's Television: Style and Scientific American

I wanted to share these two articles with you all...



I know a few people who don't love Charlie Brown, but they still love to hate him as they watch his holiday specials. Whether you enjoy sad Charlie or not, you can absolutely appreciate this take on Peanuts style thanks to Design Sponge. Check it out!

Scientific American published an article highlighting four children's television programs that promote interest in science among young viewers. Their picks were: The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Peep and the Big Wide World (produced by WGBH!), Dinosaur Train, and (one of my favorites) Go, Diego, Go!

Why I'm lucky to be going to Tufts...

There are many reasons! I have had an amazing year and a half at Tufts, and I only expect it to get better. This evening, I met with my media peers to brainstorm for some awesome new projects we'll be working on. One of our projects is being developed to better serve our group and our reference needs. It can take hours to find the right articles on children's media. Often times, I find myself searching for a document and then end up emailing Sabrina...because I know she will have the perfect article for me to read! One of our brilliant Ph.D. students, Rachel, came up with a way for us to store and share all of our references in RefWorks.

If you have not used RefWorks, you are missing out! It is a great way for you to store you references, properly cite them, and assist you with in-text citation. Please check it out! I had never used it before and spent an hour in the library just completely amazed! It is brilliant. The best part is, as students we can share our references with others who may not use RefWorks. Interested in developing a show and want to investigate attention and children's television? Can't find any great references? I bet we've got 'em...or will once this project takes off next semester.

Please look for more updates on our RefWorks project. I think this could have a major impact on our individual writing and publications as well as a huge impact on the field and the sharing of resources.