Logo Ideas

Logo Ideas

Hey Bruce

Here are some of the thoughts that I am hoping will drive our identity:

1. I don't want our logo/identity to unnecessarily drive anyone away.

2. I especially want it to be attractive and non-threatening to non-Christians and people who might be skeptical of church.

3. In our vision meetings for our church, our priorities and values revolve around

   1. Valuing People – We want to value people regardless of their past or current lifestyle choices.

   2. Valuing Life Change and Growth in People

   3. Valuing Authenticity – We want to be relevant in the Northwest culture

   4. Valuing Creativity – We want to value art and writing, and any type of creative communication

   5. Valuing FUN – We want to be the most Fun church in town. At a recent pastor's conference where I listed this in our values, it was pointed out that no other church represented expressed that fun was a value of their church. Apparently this is a rare thing and an important identifier of who we are.

   6. Engaging the Mind – We want people to not only have their hearts impacted but also the way they think. We want our services and meetings to be intellectually stimulating.

1. I have already contracted with a web service that allows us to change our colors and looks based on our identity, so I am not worried about any specific colors.

2. When our logo is translated onto an A-Sign or banner, I want the name of our church to be bold and noticeable from a distance.

3. One thought that I do have, please don't be limited by this or married to it. One of the ways of communicating who we are has been to share that we want to take Faith, Hope and Love and be the place where those three things all happen. I illustrated this originally with three circles that all overlap, with only one area in common. Circles, triangles, squares, would all work in that illustration.

4. I have seen very few church logos that I have thought were all that interesting. Most of the churches that I like right now use very minimal designs with a small gray piece of art and just a lower case font church name. Many look like the “moto design” that I have included below.

My favorite designs below are:

The Get Wired Logo – I like the colors are fun, the design is artistic... I don't like the fact that I don't feel like the cup describes their actual identity. I don't like that the words under the art are so small and not a part of the art at all.

Transformations (the last of the list) – For some reason, this kind of art demonstrates something going from standard to fun and lively. I love what this could communicate for a church. This one is my definite favorite because of how much it communicates. It would look good online, in print, even on a shirt or banner or sign.

I am so eager to see what you creatively come up with. Thanks for doing this!

Mike

this is too serious, but I like the design.

This one might is one of my favorites because it is fun, easy to look at and read the actual name of the company. We would obviously want a different design, not a cup, that we could decide on. But it is fun, artistic and eye catching. I would want a bolder name with the identity.

I like that it is artistic and that the design is part of the title.

This one is fun and clever.

I was thinking about the Christian fish here.

I like the pando one because of the design. It might be too bright colorful for us and too much like software or e-business, but I do like the three boxes concept for a possible design.

This one is more of a nortwestern color, with a clever and fun design.

I like this one because it is fun. I also like that the logo works on top of the colorful gradient behind it, but also does not depend on it.

I like this one because of the three boxes together, again more for my idea of the union of faith hope and love. The bring colors make me think of computer software though.

This one is simple and fun, but also super clever. It needs more color and more focus on the design.

This one is fun and tactile. Looks like you can touch it.

This one is modern and might get old, but is fun and interesting and artistic. If we could figure out what to put in the design, it might be a cool option. It communicates a lot. I like that it is not only fun but communicates transformation just like the word says. I certainly would love to see an entire identity that includes that design and the artistic swirls.

New Putter Design

So with my new little club working shop in my garage, I got a little antsy after the Masters. I have been loving my putter for over a year now, but I have been analyzing why I love it so. Here's what I have come up with...

It is pretty simple.
It has no offset. (In other words, the shaft is even with the face of the putter face. Almost every putter you will find has a shaft that has at least one shaft width of offset, where the shaft is in front of the putter face.)
It is face balanced. (it feels balanced to make a stroke with.)

If you have seen my putter, you will recall that it is a bronze cylinder bar with a shaft in it.

I have been admiring putters on tv for a while that I like the looks of a lot better. By saying that I like the looks, what I mean is that they have some sort of line that helps you line up your putt better. This alignment aid is important to me and gives me the confidence to make a good stroke.

However, every time I see a putter that I like, I see that it is offset. The offset putters just do not please my eye. And the ones that are not offset are center shafted, meaning that the shaft runs right into the center of the putter right behind the face. What I don't like about this is that the shaft of the center shafted putter usually blocks some of the alignment line and even looks funky and blocks the view of the back of the ball.

So what I have decided to do is to find a putter that I like the look of. Buy a straight shaft and put a single bend in it that allows the face to hang balanced but has no offset in it. The putter needs to be heel shafted and have a good alignment aid. I also want it to have a solid but soft feel while putting.

After watching Retief Goosen win a couple of weeks ago, I found that I have loved his putter for a while. His putter is a Yes! Tracy Putter. But when I have tried these, they are a little too light and are just a little too thin for my eye.

So after messing around at GolfWorks, I found that Yes! makes a putter that is like the Tracy only not at thin, weighs a bit more, is heel shafted, and has a great feel. I found one that they were selling for $80. On ebay they go used for $150, and the new ones are between $250 and $300. I offered GolfWorks $60 and they took it.

I bought a couple of the cheapest shafts I could find to practice bending in my garage. When I got a bit of confidence, I bought a putter shaft that I liked for $6. I bent it perfectly.

I heated the putter head and shaft and pulled the original shaft. I used quick epoxy to put in the new bent shaft. I took care to line it up really well and let it dry. After drying, I threw a Lamkin grip that I found for $2 at Pro Golf Discount and bought a few of the other day. It is a simple looking grip but has a nice feel and shape.

When I put it together, I was amazed at how cool it looked. I immediately took it into the yard and hit a few putts. The putter is still face balanced, the feel did not change. In fact, because I balanced it well and used a shaft that I liked, I think it actually feels even better. The grip is also a solid grip, not a cushy one. I like the solid ones better. I love looking at the putter over the ball. The alignment aid is easier to aim than ever. I was feeling consistent and accurate over every putt I hit.

I have to say that I am actually pretty impressed with myself. This might be the coolest putter I have ever looked down at. It makes a difference when you have control over every aspect of the design of the putter. I could not have found this combination of look, feel, balance, alignment and simplicity in any putter off the shelf. But it feels amazing that I thought it through and created it.

I will post pictures soon.

Masters Recap 2009

I know I know. Usually I write a preview. But there was just too much going on this week. So, yep I watched every minute of it. And here are my thoughts.

The competition and course were better than they have been for a few years. The course set up and course conditions were ready for good scoring. I hope the competition committee takes this into consideration for the next few years. The last few years sucked. Scoring was too difficult and the wrong kind of shots were rewareded.

First, I will say that Angel Cabrera is a great story. Coming from Argentina to shock the world in the 07 US Open. The guy is supposed to be charitable and nice giving back to poor kids in his home country.

I never would have picked him to win. He was not on my radar. Already some stupid Golf Channel Analysts are claiming that they foresaw him doing great things this week. Whatever.

I would have picked Geoff Ogilvy. If you gave me a choice between Tiger and Ogilvy, I would have taken Ogilvy in a second. He is number one in putting stats, putts fast greens great. He is one of the best long iron players in the world, and is red hot this year.

Take note this year though. Even though there is no rough to speak of, and analysts say that driving distance is the key at augusta and not accuracy, they are wrong. Immelman won last year by driving better than anyone else. Take a look at the top players this year. Perry, Cabrera, Campbell, Furyk... all of these guys were very accurate. Phil and Tiger were not playing from the fairway and had to take advantage of the holes where they were. The other leaders were in the fairway almost every time and had green lights into greens far more often than the big two.

Phil and Tiger.
The duel almost came to fruition. They stormed into contention on the front nine. Dang that was awesome! Phil's 30 on the front was unspeakably amazing. Tiger played himself into contention and what was crazy scary, he didn't look to be doing anything all that spectacular.

If Phil would have not thrown the ball in the water on 12, and not bogeyed 18, he would have been in a playoff. That would have been a round of 64!

Don't say he choked though. Number 12 is a rough hole. Phil plays that hole as well as anyone. No doubt he could have hit it a few feet further and been in a good spot for birdie. The birdie on 13 was solid. If there was any real bad decisions, look at how he over thought the putts on 15 and 17. He literally could have walked away with a 62, had he putted better and not been in the water on 12. He would have won by 2 strokes!

Phil's post round interview was his best interview in a long time. Usually I cringe at his interviews, but he acknowledged over reading both of those putts. He said he made a bad swing on 12. The drive on 18 was pretty lame, but he was trying to be agressive because he thought he needed birdie. (I think Faldo was a little over critical of Phil and Tiger's driver choice on 18.) I loved that he said that when he and Tiger have gone head to head in the past, he admitted that Tiger gets the best of him more often than not. He didn't acknowledge or brag about beating Tiger by a stroke, he just answered the question. Good stuff.

To me, it appeared that Kenny Perry was more solid through the entire tournament than anyone else. i was kind of disappointed for him.

I also have to just say for the record that Rory McIlroy is awesome. He would have been right in the mix had he not blown up the last few holes on Friday. He has an amazing swing. I love it, he is young but not trying to kill it. Just a balanced sweet swing. I hope he keeps the great play going for a long time. He is just going to continue to be more and more entertaining to watch.

All in All, it was a great Masters. I am happy.

Club Review Cobra Carbon CB Irons

Hey...
Remember when I said that I was pretty happy about the clubs that I have. I am.

But...
I was at AZ golfworks the other day and saw a set of irons that Brad had told me were some of the ultimate clubs out there last year. When I tried to find a set, they were consistently $550+, even now, on ebay you won't find a decent set for under $400.
So I was shocked when I saw a set on sale for $225.
So I asked if they wanted to come down on the set. I asked about $175, and ended up settling at 185. The weird thing is that these clubs came with brand new golf pride new decade grips (about a $60 value installed) and they are in amazing shape. When I measured them and they were exactly fit to my specs.

Anyway, I knew that if these don't work out for me, I can make a couple hundred bucks on them. These were on consignment and the owner just wanted to get rid of them.

Here's my review.
These clubs are so sharp looking at address. They have a thin top line and almost no offset. They couldn't look better in my opinion. My only complaint is that I don't like shiny chrome, but they do look sweet.
I have heard that these were cast and not forged, so I figured that they would be clunky or at least much more harsh than my titleist forged irons.
But the 8250 steel that they use is much softer feeling than most cast clubs. I was also told that the cavity on the back of these clubs is designed to give a nice feel.
These look and feel like I imagine pro clubs feeling.
The ball flight is nice and penetrating. I love it when irons don't balloon. My ever changing swing has been hitting some high short irons lately and these irons have a much lower and penetrating flight. They feel so controllable.

I couldn't give these a higher rating. These are amazing looking feeling and flying irons.

Setting Up Shop

Whatever happens with my new game, I am making an investment...
I want a golf shop.
I want to make building and fitting clubs a hobby.
Soooo, I am going to pick out some equipment to start a garage shop.

Here's what I am starting with...
A swingweight/total weight scale
A Vise with a shaft clamp
A Shaft bending vise attachment
A shaft bending bar
A bench grinder
A belt sander
A grip remover
Grip Tape Remover
A 48 in Ruler
A loft/lie bending machine
A torch for heating hosels and shafts
A graphite shaft extractor
Epoxy
Grip Tape
Build up tape
Protractor
GolfSmith multi measuring tool
magnetic angle measurer for loft and lie
regrooving tool
Shaft curtting tool
Ferrule Tool
Assorted Grips

And most importantly
Brad Butler's charts of clubfitting standards

All of this stuff would cost thousands if I just bought it at golfsmith or golfworks, but by getting a lot of the stuff at Harbor Freight, Golfsmith Sales, and Craigslist I have only paid a couple hundred dollars.

Not only that, but I was able to take a college course on clubfitting that students paid thousands for, for free. Because I know the teacher. Wink

Swing Improvements 3.17.09

My game shows that I need some improvement to get to where I want to be. My swing is outside to in, not by a ton, but by enough that I can miss with either a pull or a slice. I am also very inconsistent with my irons right now. During a round I will slap some band aids on my driver and be able to pretty much guess what I am tending to do and work with it.

This is not how I want to be...

I want to shorten my swing. Right now, every iron goes to at least parallel, if not further with my driver going past parallel by just a little. Ideally, My driver will be the only club getting to parallel, everything else will stop short of that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k0rfuNyXBM is a great video that shows what I am trying to do.

When I can get the motion down, I am planning to add power and consistency.

Right now I am using the Medicus dual hinge swing trainer to help me accomplish this.

My goal is to be able to hit a hook that starts out to the right of my target and ends up to the left. I just am not able to do this yet, but I feel that I am getting closer.

I have begun to try swinging more on plane by taking my hands and club out an exagerated amount to the outside, and then bringing the club in from the inside. The scary thing about this drill is that when I look at it on camera in the PGA superstore, even though it feels exagerated, it really is not. I also notice that my swing automatically is shorter when I do this, and I also notice that I get anywhere from 3-8 mph of clubhead speed faster when I make swings like this. I think this is because I am not casting any longer.

I will keep swinging the medicus every day this week and hit up the cameras at the Superstore in a few days.

Incentives for Health 3.17.09

So I need to come up with some goals and incentives for getting into better shape.

Right now, I weigh a disgusting 227 lbs. I am embarassed by this. I think I weighed 145 or 155 or so when I graduated high school. I know that I was supposed to fill out, but I went waaay too far.

Right now, with my current amount of muscle, I think that a healthy weight would be 175-180. However, I would love to put on some muscle maybe upping those numbers a bit.

Milestone #1 will be 214lbs. At this milestone, I will invest in a hybrid or wedge of my choice.

Milestone #2 will be 200lbs.

Milestone #3 will be 190lbs.

Milestone #4 will be 180lbs.

I will come up with incentives for my next goal level as I progress. Some of the things that I am thinking about are: Taylormade Burner TP FW wood. Taylormade R7 limited edition Driver. New shafts for my woods. R9 Driver. and... I'm sure I will think of a bunch of stuff during the process.

Realistically, I have heard that while you are losing weight, a good goal is to lose about 2 lbs per week. I have heard though that the first week or two you can see some quicker results, probably because of water weight and the clearing of the bowels. You can actually lose ten lbs your first week or so.

I think that realistically it should take me probably 3 weeks or so to get to my first milestone. After that, I think if I am doing really well, we are looking at 4-6 weeks for each 10 lb milestone. I think that it is pretty realistic that I will be feeling much better after a month or so, and each month, I will be feeling better and better. There is no reason that I have to think that it will be 4-6 months before I am at my goal, I should be feeling better little by little through the process.

My "Getting in Better Shape" Plan 3.17.09

As stated in my last post, I really want to get into better shape. I am hoping that updating on this blog will help me to do that.

Here are my goals...
To be happier with the way I look.
To feel more athletic.
To play better golf.

I am making it clear that just weight loss is not the goal. I do want to lose weight, but I also want to get stronger. Muscle is more dense than fat, so I don't want to limit myself to only losing fat and weighing less. But of course weight loss is much easier to measure. So at least to begin with I will measure progress with weight loss.

The problems are:
I like to eat and drink tasty stuff.
I am not currently very active.
Getting active is not too easy when you have 4 kids. I can't just run out to play some tennis. I have to plan ahead.

My Assets are:
A weight machine in the garage. Nothing elaborate, it was the thing you could buy at Walmart for like $175.
I treadmill.
A couple of dumbbells.
A pool in the back yard.
A Bike.


Here's what I'm going to do to make it happen...
Incentives. For each milestone that I reach, I will buy myself something that I have been wanting for a while. Each prize will be cooler than the last.
Drink more iced tea. Many times, I choose beverages that are not all that good for me. Iced tea is not fattening, and I find it delicious.
Finding foods that I like that are healthy. (my recent love of shish ka bobs is going to help here.)
Finding healthier lunch choices that I love. I miss having a Teriyaki place on every corner.
Finding fun ways to exercise. I don't like to run, but there is nothing better for me in order to get my heart rate up.
Lifting weights. I want to do this with golf in mind. I want a stronger back and I want increased power and balance in my swing.
Stretching. I think that becoming more flexible would really be a good thing for. So I am going to start finding stretches that will help my back and also loosen me up.

I don't want to sacrifice eating food that I like altogether. I don't want to run 5 miles a day either. I want to do this in a fun way where I get to eat food that I like and don't feel terrible every time I choose not to exercise.

I am deciding to start today.

Right Now

Having had a background where I was playing pretty consistently in the high 70's, I have regressed. I'm sure that my golf atrophy is pretty normal for a guy who moved away from the golf capital of the world into the rainy northwest to have 4 kids and work a busy ministry job.

Right now to be honest:
I am out of shape. I used to be the skinny guy. The "oh my gosh you are so thin and you never gain a pound no matter how much you eat, I am so jealous" guy. When I worked at the course when I was in college, they had to special order me a pair of size 30 waist shorts, because they only came in 32's and up and the people in the golf shop said they looked too baggy on me.
I have never been in good shape. I was the 90lb weakling, and now am the incredible expanding man.
I want to be in shape, I just have trouble liking the diets and exercise options that are available to me.
One goal is to get in better shape. I am going to create an incentive program for each weight milestone that I can get past. I don't just want to lose weight though. I want to be stronger. I have never felt strong, and I don't have any thoughts or dreams of starring in an action movie with my shirt off, but I want to be strong so that I not only hit the ball farther, but also so I can avoid injury. Right now, my back hurts and I have a pulled muscle in my side. I am sure that exercising and getting stronger would really help this issue.
I am currently on an anti-depressant that caused me to gain 15 pounds extremely quickly. Nice job anti depressant! Way to make me feel less depressed. Now I'm still depressed, but I am also pushing the obesity boundaries.

My game is pretty weak.
When I practice on a regular basis, I can slap some band-aids on my swing and get it around the course pretty good. But my driving is inconsistent. My irons are solid but also all over the place. My short game is as sharp as ever though. My putting has never been better. I actually get excited on the green whether I have a 50 footer or a difficult 5 footer.

My Swing has a couple of issues.
When I played a lot in college, I was a hooker. My misses were always hooks, and I had a difficult time curving the ball to the right.
Right now, my misses are either big pulls or slices. My swing has now become an out to in move that I am not thrilled with. Part of me wonders if this is due to my body change, but whatever it is, it has hung on for a few years.

My equipment is solid but as my game progresses I will make some changes.
Driver 9.5 deg Taylormade Burner TP with a Prolaunch Red Stiff Shaft
My FW Woods are Taylormade V-Steel 3 and 5 woods
My Irons are Titleist 704cb's with stiff dynalite gold shafts.
My Wedges are Titleist Vokey's 200 series
My Putter is a Brad Butler Overspin 2.

There is nothing wrong with any of the clubs in my bag. I am putting well and therefore am not worried about my putter too much. (although I am tinkering with an older putter trying to make it a bit better.)
I love vokey wedges. My 60 deg is pretty new, They are all in good shape.
My Irons have such a good and solid feel. I love the look sound and feel of these things.
My FW woods are very solid feeling.

My Tinkers
I am going to get in better shape. Stronger and leaner.
I am going to get my swing shortened and more inside to out.
Though my equipment is solid, I am always messing around with stuff and dying to play the latest technology. I am looking into getting a FW wood that I like to hit off of the tee more or possibly a hybrid to hit off of the tee. I am messing around with my putter. The Brad Butler Putter is the best putter I have ever used. The only thing I would change is that there is no real alignment device on the putter. I am tinkering around with a couple of things in the garage.

Do I have a goal for all of this?
Not really. Besides getting better, playing better and having more fun. I also would like to pass the PAT one day (Players Aptitude Test). I is being held in June and August at the two courses I have played the most in my life. I may give it a shot if I start feeling like my game is in the right direction.

Anyway, that's where I'm at now. More to come on these topics soon.

Why?

I love golf. The game, the courses, the sport, the equipment, all of it. I love golfing with friends, with my family, and even by myself. I love the game!

If you want to know why I have started this blog, it is for no other reason than having a place to write about golf.

Right now, I am not only trying to love the game and write about it, I am trying to get better at it. So this blog will not only contain my commentary on the tour and events, I will also be commenting about my own game and how it is progressing. I will post about the equipment that I try and the courses I play.