Flags of Tulsa

A design exercise to explore potential flag designs for Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[flagsoftulsa-blog]

*** EDIT – In case you don’t take the time to wander all the way through my rambling below, I’d like to use this edit to say congratulations again to the hree finalists and to give my sincerest thanks to the group behind the Tulsa Flag project (go vote btw) for their hard work, dedication and passion. You guys rock! *** Hello again! Let’s recap, shall we?

I watch Roman Mars gave a TEDTalk in 2015 on flag design/vexillology.

I see that Tulsa, the place I call home, is one of the many places displayed in Mr. Mars’s examples of poor flag designs. Ouch!

I start a personal design exercise intended to exercise my brain while addressing the issues expressed in Mr. Mars’s presentation.

I research.

I research some more.

I sleep.

I research even more.

I start sketching concepts.

I refine those concepts into a big mess of digital flags.

I decide that I should share some of my ideas online.

I get busy with life. Bummer.

I let the exercise fall to the wayside and I don’t share any of the designs. Double-bummer.

I hear about a campaign to officially change Tulsa’s flag being run by the good folks at Tulsa Flag.

I raise my eyebrows and get excited.

I reach out to the group to see how I can get involved.

I think to myself “These are some good people. I like them and what they are doing.”

I dust off my old flag designs and add a few more to the mix.

I submit my flag designs to the Tulsa Flag project.

I sleep again.

I wait.

I wait some more.

I see the unveiling of the three flag finalists.

I’m disappointed to not be in the top three, but I’m thankful for getting the opportunity to participate.

I decide to follow through on my initial intention.

I don’t procrastinate or let life interrupt again.

I complete my exercise by sharing my official submissions.

Everyone caught up? Cool. Now that we’re all on the same page, for better or worse, I present to you my submissions to the Tulsa Flag project. I had a lot of fun working on these designs and all of the others that didn’t get submitted. In the end, I have no real issue with how things turned out and my decision to share these is in no way an attempt to say that anything I worked on is better/worse than than any of the other designs that were submitted. I’ve got nothing but respect and appreciation for everyone who played a part in the official project and I want to congratulate the finalists on their achievement. So, even though one of my designs won’t be waving in the wind atop one of Tulsa’s skyscrapers or hanging from the porch of a Tulsa home, I still consider it a privilege to have taken part in this project. A big thank you goes out to everyone behind the Tulsa Flag campaign and to all the people who served on the design committee. It’s great to see so many people devote their time and energy toward something that we all love. Tulsa.

[flagsoftulsa-blog]

About that flag...

In May of last year, Roman Mars held a TEDTalk focused on vexillology. What’s vexillology you ask? Well, that’d be the study of flags. Cool, right? To me it kinda is. Especially when an old version of my city’s flag was included in his presentation as an example of what NOT to do. Ouch!

A few days after watching Roman’s talk, I began doing some research on flag design and on Tulsa. My plan was to embark on a design exercise wherein I would use my findings to develop an assortment of flag designs for Tulsa that were based on the standards or principles Roman discussed and referenced.

My intent was to share a new flag design on a weekly or daily basis through the various social media channels that I had secured for the design exercise. Good intentions? Yup. Devoting enough time to enact my plan? Not so much. So, despite developing a small collection of designs, I never got around to sharing them online. Instead, they sat on my hard drive where they became less and less likely to see the light of day. Bummer.

As time passed, my flag design exercise slipped further and further from my mind as I directed my attention to daily or more regular responsibilities and commitments. I would occasionally think about the flag exercise when I would encounter a Tulsa flag while out and about in our fair city, but unfortunately seeing one of the current flags waving in the wind never forced me back into action. That all changed yesterday when I saw a story about some like minded Tulsans who were also inspired to do something after seeing Roman’s talk. These fine folks formed a group, put together a website, set up social media channels and started the process of building a campaign. Nice! You can check them out by visiting www.tulsaflag.com. Do them, and me, a favor while you are there and submit your input to help guide them in their efforts.

With all that said, I decided to use the renewed discussions on the Tulsa flag as an opportunity to open up and dust off my old designs. I plan on sharing a handful of the good, the bad and the ugly via Instagram and here on Tumblr. Who knows, maybe a few other places as well. Afterall, what good is a flag if it’s locked away where no one can see it? #RaisetheFlag #FlagsofTulsa #TulsaFlag

[flagsoftulsa-blog]

A year later

Better late than never, right?