I've decided to do a new post about this, since I've been away from the Shanty for over a week now and there were a lot of responses to the thought about where the Shanty is heading. Personally, I'm all for growing the blog. It's been a nice place for us to share out thoughts, musical suggestions, artwork, etc. But, obviously, other people have become interested in the things we post about, too; so anything we can do to keep the Shanty moving forward — as long as it remains a place we all enjoy coming to — is a good thing in my opinion.
So, beings as Mander has volunteered my design skills to spruce up the blog, I was wondering what all of your thoughts might be if you wanted to move forward with a new look, logo, etc. How would you guys like the Shanty to look / feel? What would you want to see in a logo? I'd love to read your thoughts and collaborate. I think this could be a lot of fun.
"My friend I am smuggling wheelbarrows." Shantied, 4-17-09.
ReplyDeleteMan, oh man. I've given a lotta thought to this one. I'm pretty embarrassed to admit, though, that I still don't have a clear idea. For starters, I think that the rug really ties the room together. Is there anyway we could incorporate those elements into a Shanty redesign?
There's another source to draw from. By now, it may be a mistake to try and reach back to the origins of The Shanty as we know it today. Of course you all read the material I had sent you with the invite (for some of you, this is really reaching back). About the Shanty theme, it had this to say:
"I figured a really great premise to work from would be a digital "shanty," much like the masterpiece of a bathroom you may remember from Swanson '03-'04. Remember checking new music? Remember showing it off? Remember the cig breaks? These weren't your normal "Quick, it's fucking cold out here" cig breaks. These were something holier. They had to be. No electric light. This was sacred ground, drip candle country. And the small talk was actually very big. The idea is to develop content (opinions, stories, sound, images) from a very "shanty" frame of mind."
For those that aren't familiar, Swanson would be the sophomore dorm building at Creighton University. The Swanson suites included two all-purpose shoeboxes with a bathroom in between. That bathroom hosted a narrow area behind the sinks where a few of us had set up a couple of chairs, a stereo and an ashtray. Additions were made as our sophomore year progressed, including drip candles, a string of lights and more dirt and dust-bunnies than you could shake a stick at. We called it "the Shanty." The suitemates used it extensively, and it seemed like the rest of Swanson eventually made their way in there at one time or another. Mostly late at night.
That's how I began perceiving the digital space that we call the Shanty today. Truth is, it's become much more. But I feel like that bathroom may be a good place to start (minus most if not all of the features that would normally define a "bathroom."). That would mean off-white, low light, slightly tight but a simple site.
Maybe, just maybe a little dirty, too. And weird, like breaking some rules weird, in an understated way.
That's my two cents. Anything else?