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!