If you have seen any of the conversation on Minnesota social or local media about the finalist flags you will see Minnesotans and vexillologists have A LOT OF THOUGHTS ABOUT THE FLAG! I view all feedback like this as a gift. Being a designer means knowing when to make changes based on feedback and when not to. There are also trolls. Ignore them.
WOW! I'm simply thrilled that my flag received the most votes from the State Emblems Commission this evening.
— Brandon Hundt (@BrandonHundt2) November 22, 2023
I am very eager to work with the Commission to address their feedback and make the flag even better. Onwards to a #newMNflag! @RepFreiberg https://t.co/Fe95jdXK9I
The firehose of feedback can be grouped into common themes. I do my best to lightheartedly answer common questions. This is a resource for you. If you read it all bless you.
Ah, this is a good question to start with. I wish the Commission had posted the symbolism along with each submission because context is important for understanding design choices. Here’s what I’ve been running with:
Blue: Mni Sota’ Sky-tinted water: The land of 10,000 lakes. The Great Lakes begin in Duluth. The Mighty Mississippi is formed in our state. If any state has a case to have a blue flag, it is Minnesota.
The Directional Star: “L’etoile du Nord” The North Star. If you follow the North Star, you will end up in Minnesota. Gold represents the rich resources of the land.
The Snowflake: Winter We embrace it. Put on a sweater and stay warm. As a bonus this is also the shape of the star on the floor in the rotunda of the Capitol building in Saint Paul.
The original intent (conceived eight years ago) was to riff off of knitted sweaters - which feature eight-sided selburoses - not snowflakes. The eight-sided star is also a prominent symbol to local tribes. The more you look for it, the more you already see it across the state.
Bonus: The eight-sided star is based on the floor of the Rotunda in the Capitol building and has the hidden benefit of creating hidden M’s - sorry no hidden Loons here.
Maybe I need to update the symbolism to remove the word “Snowflake” but the name “Snowstar” is growing on me…
So to answer your question, no, I would not make changes to the number of sides in the star.
Selburoses have a centered element. Dakota stars do not. If the Commission so chooses, the dot can be removed.
It is not. Flags should be simple. In fact, the leading vexillologist (a person who studies flags by the name of Ted Kaye) thinks the symbol might be too complex, maybe? If elements are added to it, the emblem gets lost. Please believe me when I say that I’ve tried many many many ways to add to the flag, but it usually ends up distracting from the emblem itself.
Also, please consider other flags. If you find this flag boring, you might find all flags boring! Fashion is a choice. Ukraine’s flag 🇺🇦 is so simple, yet is an enduring international symbol of the independence of their people.
For those who think the MN final six flag designs are boring, consider:
— Brandon Hundt (@BrandonHundt2) November 22, 2023
1. 🇯🇵🇱🇨🇧🇷🇨🇭🇧🇩🇨🇾🇭🇰🇰🇬🇸🇴🇲🇦 (center on solid field)
2. 🇺🇦🇫🇷🇯🇲🇮🇪🇩🇪🇮🇹🇵🇸🇿🇦🇹🇿 (rectangles, triangles, lines, and colors, you know most of these!)
3. 🇨🇦🇧🇧🇦🇷🇱🇧🇨🇳🇮🇳🇰🇪(More flags you may know)
Keep it simple!
See above. This emblem doesn’t work as a canton — it gets very lost up in the corner. Combining adds too many colors. It loses emphasis with an unnecessary swallowtail. Stripes are unnecessary for this design and they neuter the impact of the emblem. I’ve tried it all. TRUST ME on this.
A Special NOTE for the “We need a swallowtail crowd”: It’s cute that a swallowtail evokes the shape of the state. Keep in mind that swallowtails are most commonly used for Naval Ensigns, and I strongly feel it’d be out of place to use them for the official variant. But if you have a boat, by all means, pay extra to cut that MN-shaped wedge into the flag - as long as you promise me to not exclude the NORTHWEST ANGLE!!!
Sorry to inform you that this is not the diss you intended. I have a sixth grader, I’m very proud of her. She is not an insult.
Flags need to be visible and distinctive from the top of a flag pole at far distances, meaning the best flags are stripped down to only the necessary elements to convey the symbolism. Again, we turn to Ted Kaye: “The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory.”
Please know I want to solve the issue of the yellow and white blending together causing a what vexillilogists call a “metals clash”. I believe there is a gold out there that will work with the white. If not, then we can move to outlines (but not too thick).
Long story short - we need to make this flag and test the colors! We will likely need to do this a few times until the colors are correct. I’ve made it once already and I can say the clash is real. I didn’t want to spend the money to fix it then because the flag was more of a hypothetical dream when I initially made it.
Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 LAKES, the source of the Mississippi RIVER, LAKE SUPERIOR, The Boundary WATERS, and the POND next to the power plant in Rochester that never freezes over so geese can live there year-round! Also, no rivers flow into this state, they all start here and flow out. We are the only state where this is true! The name of the state literally means, “SKY-TINTED WATERS”.
Therefore, MINNESOTA SHOULD HAVE A BLUE FLAG! Everyone else should change theirs! We shouldn’t design our flag solely on what other states are or aren’t doing. This flag will be distinctive!
That said, ahem, I get a lot of comments about the shade of blue. Over the course of this flag’s digital lifetime, I’ve lightened the shade - and I don’t think it works any lighter… I feel that contrast is important, so the darker the background gets the more prominent the star. We want a balance.
Green is a hard color to pair with blue. Adding green for green’s sake needlessly complicates the flag. But I’m very much onboard with variants like the Wild and North Stars examples:
MN sportsball team colors applied to flag design #F29 pic.twitter.com/SkPVVINfT7
— Brandon Hundt (@BrandonHundt2) November 13, 2023
To conclude, I’ve been receiving so many positive and encouraging messages about this flag — it has been overwhelming. When I first made this flag, I didn’t think there was any real possibility it would be adopted. Over the last four days, it has felt more real.
This means it is time for me to get to work to improve it without affecting the character and symbolism that so many folks are resonating with. I really hope the Commission wants to do this work with me (and the other five designers of the other flags). We really need to see what these look like on cloth and up on flagpoles.
Please keep in mind that I am not sure what exactly comes next in terms of the State Emblems Commissions process to select a flag, other than they have err, 36 or 37 days to select a winner — and there’s a lot to do! Revisions, making the flag, testing the flag. Choosing the flag.
I want to work with the Commission! Really, I do!
Thank you all for taking the time to engage with me about this flag. I’m very hopeful, excited, and nervous. Onwards to a new Minnesota flag!
UPDATE: If you like the flag, please feel free to provide a public comment voicing your support to the State Emblems Redesign Commission.
*UPDATE:* December 2, 2023: The State Emblems Redesign Commissions (SERC) appears willing to accept designer feedback. Therefore, I decided to create a slide deck with included revisions and context for the decisions made. The SERC received a slightly modified version of the deck.
My goal with any proposed revision is to maintain the symbolism and spirit and quality of the originally proposed flag. I think the original flag would make a great flag. Some of the revisions may make it stronger.
It is up to the SERC to make final decisions on if they accept any changes. Thank you.
Feel free to share the deck. My desire is for the context to accompany the revisions at this point, therefore I will not be showing any of these images outside of the context of the deck - for now.
Its been a tough few weeks in Minneapolis since the brutal murder of George Floyd at the knee of Derek Chauvin. Our city is forever changed.
As the neighborhood watches slow down and the city gets a chance to take a breath – something not afforded to our neighbors of color – I’ve been thinking about how Minneapolis could use a new symbol to capture our collective anger and hope for a more equitable and just city.
We need a new flag. A banner to rally behind as we begin to lead the nation in a discussion on police violence and the lack of equity in Minneapolis.
This might seem minor, especially in the midst of a debate to defund the police, I’m suggesting we review the symbols of Minneapolis, specifically the flag. But I fully believe that symbolism matters.
Symbols can serve as a uniting or dividing force. For example, one can learn a lot from an individual that displays a Confederate flag at a NASCAR race or can learn a lot about a state that chooses to keep it on their state flag (ahem Mississippi).
Editor’s Note: Mississippi now has a new flag.
Symbols can be oppressive and symbols can also give hope and be a source of civic pride. They can also be quite irrelevant.
Residents of DC, must have been filled with pride when they saw aBlack Lives Matter street sign complete with the DC flag. It’s their street. DC did that.
When visiting Chicago, you are more likely to see the city flag than the Illinois or American flag.
This brings us to Minneapolis. Our existing symbols are mostly irrelevant. The sailboat motif is common, but not embraced by the public. The city flag (shown above)? It’s only flown at government buildings and has irrelevant symbolism.
Minneapolis is on the verge of doing something historic by being the largest city to potentially defund a police force. We need to become more equitable. A new flag can serve as a reminder to always do better.
New Symbolism:
In West Africa there’s the Sankofa bird, it looks backwards as it moves forward and has become a symbol of hope for African Americans in the fight for racial equality. Always reflecting, never forgetting as it moves forward on its journey.
As Minneapolis started burgeoning as a milling city along St. Anthony Falls, let’s not forget on land stolen from the Dakota, it would have been common to see many water wheels churning in the Mississippi River. The waterwheel can take on a similar symbolism to the Sankofa bird - in one full rotation the wheel needs to go backwards as well as forward. We should always remember our past as we move forward.
I hope to have designed a flag that encompases these features.
The field (non-nerds call this a background) is separated into two equal quadrants separated by a 45 degree angle. The angle represents Minneapolis’ geographic location on the 45th parallel, halfway between the equator and the north pole.
Colors: The hoist side (or the side of flag pole) is blue symbolizing the city’s relationship with water, or mne in Dakota. The white represents winter as Minneapolis is the coldest major city in the contiguous United States.
The angle is also shaped like St Anthony Falls, the waterfall that gave this city its birth and initial prosperity as a milling town.
Symbol (or in flag parlance, the “charge”): The city motto is En Avant (French for ‘Forward’) _as represented by the water wheel moving in a forward direction. _The multicolored snowflake symbol is an intentional embrace of the city’s liberalism - that also takes on the perpetual forward motion of a waterwheel over the falls when provided in multiple colors; embracing both the highs and the lows of its history.
A water wheel must travel backwards in order to go forward. The four black branches remember the following significant events:
The remaining branches represent the four quadrants of the city (North, South, Northeast, Southeast), moving together.
While I hope you like the flag or at least appreciate a few of the thoughts behind it, I’m not naive enough to think that this would just become the flag of Minneapolis with a single Council resolution. Ha! It doesn’t work like that. Milwaukee, Rochester, and countless other towns have shown this.
What I hope this starts is a discussion about our city’s symbols, regardless of my proposal. My proposal will have its own built in perceived biases, and its the proposal of one person. Therefore, likely flawed in some aspect.
I welcome your feedback, suggestions, and a discussion about Minneapolis’ symbols. I’m over at @brandonhundt2 on Twitter.
]]>Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared in City Pages, may they RIP:
In fact, it took going to a Minnesota United FC Loons game for me to spot my first two city flags of the calendar year. Even then, there were only two official municipal flags (St. Paul and Duluth) among the 30 or so flags being flown that day.
Yet, that didn’t surprise me, because Minnesota is the land of 10,000 bad flags.
Consider this: Do you even know if your city has a flag? If not, that is an indication that the city’s flag is no good.
And if you have seen your city’s flag, do you dare risk the scorn of your neighbors to fly it in front of your house? Based on this review of Minnesota city flags, I bet not.
Flags matter to me. As a kid, I pored through atlases for hours at a time, and in so doing I developed a love of political geography. This blended well with my love of sports. I will watch almost any international sports competition with a particular enjoyment of the flag-raising ceremony.
So it pains me to see the sad state of political design in Minnesota. About a month ago, City Pages wrote about a petition to change the state flag of Minnesota, and showed a few alternatives designed by flag enthusiasts. One of those (Option 1) was mine. (My volunteer design interests you might know from a recent Minneapolis skyway map and signage overhaul.)
Before we get into the review, let us first consider what makes a good flag. The proud flag nerds of the North American Vexillological Association provide five helpful guidelines for differentiating between good flags and bad ones. Here they are verbatim:
1.) Keep It Simple. The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory… 2.) Use Meaningful Symbolism. The flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes… 2.) Use 2 or 3 Basic Colors. Limit the number of colors on the flag to three which contrast well and come from the standard color set… 3.) No Lettering or Seals. Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal… 4.) Be Distinctive or Be Related. Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections…
This shouldn’t be too hard. Let’s find out how Minnesota’s cities have done. I reviewed the flags of the 10 largest cities in Minnesota, plus Mankato. Why Mankato? Because it helps to prove my point.
St. Cloud, our 10th largest city, does not have any official flag that I could find. Although, when searching for a flag on their city website, I did learn they have plenty of flag football leagues.
You know who does have a flag though? Mankato.
Our 22nd largest city is the home of one of the state’s least subtle flags. As the flag so clearly demonstrates, the city of Mankato has two steamboat-navigable swervy rivers, which join at a slightly rotated star. And if you weren’t already convinced this represents Mankato, they added the city name.
Here’s the worst part. This flag was created in 1991 and not in 1868.
For every ounce of over-thinking Mankato put into its flag, these municipalities went too far the other way. You can imagine the first modern mayor of nearly every Twin Cities suburb saying, “We need a flag? Just put the city logo, as is, on a white bedsheet, and hoist it up that pole.”
Here’s one problem with just slapping text on a flag. Either half the time the text will be backwards or you need to use two sheets to ensure the text is always readable, doubling the cost of the flag. As suburbs are often concerned with fiscal responsibility, this seems relevant.
Woodbury:
[Yawn.]
Maple Grove:
[Yawn.]
Plymouth: [Yawn.]
Bloomington:
[Starts yawning…] Oh! I’ve been awoken from my slumber. I suppose this flag at least proves that by removing the city name, the ‘logo on white bed sheet’ style does indeed get a little better. It is clear they put some effort into this. Therefore, Bloomington is my recipient of the First Annual Suburban Flag Participation Award.
Duluth:
So close, yet so far away. Why is it that politicians can’t resist plopping seals over the tops of flags? “I think we really need a seal!” said no one ever. So how does this keep happening???”
St. Paul:
The capitol city loves it some collages. This flag could be really good, it has potential. But it ends up in mediocrity because there are just too many moving parts. Literally. Is that a flying tire?
Rochester:
…is home to the world famous Mayo Clinic and that means nearly 100 percent of the population is made up of medical professionals, but let us please make sure people remember us for our geese. Geese, something every American town has at least part of the year. But even if we replaced the geese with the aforementioned majestic common loon, this flag still wouldn’t work.
Maybe I just need to spell it out more plainly in the most Rochester font I can find…
Minneapolis:
There are times in life you need to say something truthful to someone, even though you know it will hurt them. In such instances, people like to start with a compliment that could come off as patronizing.
Well, flag of Minneapolis, you’ve done such a nice job sticking to two colors, and that is a really hard thing for flags to do. [Awkward silence, as everyone recognizes the truthbomb still to come.] But everything else about you is, well, abhorrent.
What bothers me most about this flag is its hollow symbolism. Actually, what bothers me most is that very big royal blue triangle. But the symbolism is not far behind. The flag doesn’t lie, and Minneapolis does indeed have science, industry, and recreation, all in one place. But so does every other major American city. That’s what makes them cities.
Minneapolis is unique, and deserves a flag that highlights this.
There are major issues to tackle and political divisions in Trump’s America, but flag do-overs may be an area where the partisans can find common ground. If done right, with an open and transparent process, citizens would be able to engage with politics in a way they haven’t been afforded before.
At the very least, it would force municipalities to rethink who they are at their core. It might help bring a community together in a common effort and thusly increase civic pride.
This would be a change, and a refreshing one, kind of like sharing a Heineken or a Pepsi with a neighbor.
Just look at Chicago and Portland, two cities with flags that are now very much a part of the fabric of their cities. Milwaukee is toward the end of a citizen-led process of going from the worst flag ever made to quite possibly the best city flag in the nation.
We can’t let Milwaukee be better than us in anything.
Furthermore, a good city flag helps inform the overall design system of a community. If the symbolism of the flag is strong enough it can help inform the brand the city uses on welcome signs and snowplows and even your tax bill. Having a strong design system helps to create continuity across departments, which leads once again to cost savings.
Last but not least in the completely hypothetical, but fun to think about, scenario that your city became its own nation, would your current flag be good enough to fly at the United Nations?
As far-fetched as this hypothetical may sound, this should absolutely be the standard of your city’s new flag.
Now I don’t want to leave you without any hope. One Minnesota city has recently made every other Minnesota city look bad.
Crystal (population 22,000) is only the 47th largest city in Minnesota, but it may be our boldest, as flags go. A few weeks ago Crystal unveiled a new banner that passes NAVA’s guidelines, and does its city proud.
I’m not going to say this is the best city flag ever, but it works. It’s something I can see their residents embracing wholeheartedly.
]]>Editor’s Note: This post is an edited summation of my previous Skyway Map and Signage posts that appeared in City Pages. RIP, City Pages.
Take that EVERY OTHER CITY.
For the uninformed, the skyway is a convoluted and confusing collection of intra-building walkways that connects second floors (and sometimes first floors) of most (but not all) of the buildings in downtown Minneapolis.
That’s where I work. If I’m being honest, I can sense a real love/hate relationship Minneapolitans have with their skyway. There are reasons for both.
Love:
Hate:
Seriously, here is the official skyway map. It’s almost impossible to follow the walking path (marked in red), but you can clearly follow the path of Nicollet Mall, in all its curviness… for some reason.
And here is an example of the signage:
Ugh. Everything is wrong.
It’s like these were done in the ’90s when Photoshop first came out, and someone realized they could make water-like textures. So they did. And then 20 years went by, and the same sign was still hanging there.
Let’s just say that we can do better, Minneapolis. Much better! And not just for the sake of whiny sportswriters who will descend upon the city next year. For all of us.
Fortunately, the map and signage are fixable. I’ve taken this project on.
A literal skyway map is a mess any which way you try to attempt it. Just think of the layers of the skyway, which hangs above city streets while then zigging and zagging through buildings. I can’t really blame the map creators. It’s such a confusing system.
I’m suggesting we follow the transit (aka subway) map model, and deconstruct the skyway system.
When riding the train, only three things really matter: the stop, the route, and the destination. A train can go around a curve or two, but what’s that to you? The train is taking you where you need to go and it only stops at marked stations.
The legendary Massimo Vignelli brilliantly took advantage of this in designing New York’s subway map. You’ll notice he completely ignored streets, distances, and curves, instead using straight horizontal and vertical lines, and the occasional 45-degree angle. Colors signified routes, and stations were equally spaced dots on the map.
Today we couldn’t imagine a subway system mapped any other way.
Let’s apply Vignelli’s principles to the skyway and its jagged edges. First, identify what matters to the skyway user.
Taking these into consideration, I created the following map: (Click here for a large PDF of Hundt’s Minneapolis skyway map. Editor’s note this is the most up to date version!)
Isn’t that so much more pleasant?
Some things worth noting:
Even with a vastly improved grid, what good is a new map with the same old signs? For the Vignelli inspired transit map to work, it needs good signage. Simple to read, colorful, and clear.
Here, look at these.
I created these intending to fit the majority of signage that is currently in the skyway, though a recent walk revealed to me all kinds of unorthodox shapes hanging around. (The signs at both ends of Mayo Clinic Square [or Block E] are wave-shaped, for example.)
In the new and improved skyway, these unorthodox shapes would be replaced with the rectangular version. They should just be taken down, period.
So, imagine you’re walking into the buildings listed on the image above. The color indicates the route you’re on, with the name of the building you’re entering labeled in the center. Down the right side, you could see other (future) destinations along the same route, as marked with the same color, plus alternate routes you will encounter inside that building, as marked by their respective colors.
On the occasion that you’re entering the final building on a route and there are no other crossing routes, the right panel can be omitted (see the Target Plaza sign).
Let’s look at how signs would appear if you’re entering the City Center building, the one laced with the most skyway veins in all of downtown. There are no fewer than seven entrances to that building. I’ve mocked up five, to show this system can handle even the most complex of scenarios:
The color schemes and additional building names look like a lot to take in all at once. But after a few passes (and with the aid of a clean map) they’d begin to make sense, and become second nature.
Like how the experienced subway rider comes to know and intrinsically understand that system of colors, lines, and dots, without ever getting lost. Or even slowing down.
I wouldn’t intend the signs or map posted above to be the final version in the (admittedly unlikely) event the Downtown Improvement Council decides to put them to use. A reliable replacement for the current system should first be tested by surveying skyway users, and actual testing of walkers sent on assigned tasks.
Can Nancy figure out how to get out of the Westin Hotel (here, located on the “pink” line) and transfer to the “orange,” passing through three downtown buildings, to grab a drink in the historic Foshay Tower?
Can Jeff get from the (red) Radisson Plaza, use two lines and three buildings to pick up a prescription from the Target store on Nicollet Mall… then hook a U-turn, using two lines (blue and black) to make his meeting in the Ameriprise Financial building on time?
Most important: Can they do it without getting so frustrated they feel like shattering the skyway glass and leaping down to the street below?
Whether you love or shun the skyways, they’re not going anywhere. In the meantime, let’s make them easier to use for the benefits of those that work, play, and shop in downtown Minneapolis.
]]>NOTE: This post was republished in City Pages… Check it out, it reads better. 😉
Take that EVERY OTHER CITY.
I work in downtown Minneapolis and if I’m being honest, I can sense a real love/hate relationship Minneapolitans have with their skyway. Time for a pro/con list:
PROs:
CONs:
Seriously here is the official Skyway map:
And here is an example of the signage:
Seriously. Ugh. Everything is wrong. Its like these were done in the 90’s when Photoshop first came out and someone realized they could make water-like textures - so they did. Let’s just say that we can do better Minneapolis - much better! And we need to do better for the sports writers that are about to descend on us in a year.
Fortunately the map and signage are fixable, and I’ve taken this project on. In Part 2, I present my map and explain in great lengths why its necessary to do it how I did. In Part 3: I offer my suggestion for signage to accompany the map.
Primary Photo credit: Flickr / Creative Commons
]]>“Straight and orderly the skyway is not”
- Yoda
Therefore, I’m suggesting we deconstruct the skyway system and I feel best way to do this is to follow the transit (aka subway) map model with a few variations.
As an example of deconstruction, we only need to look at the experience of riding a train - only three things really matter. The stop, the route, and the destination. A train can go around a curve or two but what’s that to you? The train is taking you where you need to go and it only stops at marked stations.
The legendary Massimo Vignelli brilliantly took advantage of this in designing New York’s subway map. You’ll notice he completely ignored streets, distances and curves, instead he used horizontal and vertical straight lines and the occasional 45 degree angle. He also used colors to signify routes, and stations were simple equally spaced dots on the map.
Today we couldn’t imagine any subway system without it this type of map.
Now it is time to apply the principles of Vignelli’s map to the skyway and its jagged edges. And we to need to start by identifying what matters to the skyway user.
Buildings: Essentially these are equivalent to a train stop.
Skyways: These connect buildings to one another.
Destinations: The skyway user doesn’t necessarily need to know North from South or East from West - especially considering that Downtown Minneapolis sits on a NW - SE street grid. Therefore, a skyway users needs to know they are headed in the correct direction and getting closer to their intended location.
However, we do have a few extra use cases to consider that are unique to skyway users:
5. Streets: The skyway is in many ways an extension of the street and is connected to the street. Therefore, we can’t completely ignore streets. They would also form a good barometer of distance - as measured in blocks.
Taking these five concepts into consideration, I created the following map:
That’s so pleasant. Here are some things worth highlighting in the map:
Feel free to use the map as you see fit. Admittedly, signage is still a big piece to this project as it may be difficult to use this map without. I address signage in part 3. Onwards!
]]>For the Vignelli inspired transit map to work, it needs good signage. Simple to read to read. Colorful and clear. I’ll try to keep this brief:
First, I created these to the size that is intended to fit the majority of signage that is currently in the skyway. However, a recent walk through the skyways revealed to me all kinds of unorthodox shapes to some of signs (the signs at both ends of Block E - now known as Mayo Clinic Square- are waved shaped). The unorthodox shapes would need to be replaced with the rectangular version. They need to be replaced in general.
Now imagine you are walking into the buildings listed on the image above. The color indicates the route you are on with the name of the building listed on top. A right panel is included to show any routes you may encounter while inside the building color coded to the route.
On the occasion that it is the final building on a route AND there are no other crossing routes, then the right panel can be omitted (see the Target Plaza sign).
Also on the occasion that you are passing through a building with no other crossing routes, but the skyway continues, then the right panel can include more information about a popular destination upcoming on that route (see the Int’l center sign).
Lastly, I want to show what the sign would look like if you are entering the building with the most skyway entrances - City Center. There are no less than seven entrances to that building. I have mocked up five of them to show you this system can handle the most complex of scenarios:
I would like to conclude this series by stating that I would not intend these signs or the map to be the final version in the admittedly unlikely event of them being put in use. But if they were to be put into use, I’d recommend a phase of user testing involving surveying on test portions of the routes and actual testing of users on assigned tasks.
That said, whether you love or shun the skyways, they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. In the meantime, let’s make them easier to use for the benefits of those that work, play, and shop in downtown Minneapolis.
I’d appreciate you thoughts on this thought project, the good, the bad and the suggestions. I’d love to know if you actually try the map. Feel free to post your thoughts and experiences in the comments! Tally ho!
]]>Before I reveal my preferred alternative design for a new flag, a history lesson is necessary to understand how I got there. The Facebook group, aptly named Minnesotans for a Better Flag, was founded as a way to advocate for a change to the Minnesota North Star flag.
The North Star flag was close to becoming the state flag in 1989 there was a bill at the Minnesota state legislature to make it the state flag, but it was voted down. Yet there remains a small remnant of survivors keeping the fight alive.
The symbolism of the flag is quite good and well intended. As the official webpage for this flag notes:
The star recalls the state motto chosen by the pioneers, “L’etoile du Nord” (“The North Star”). The blue stripe represents our lakes and rivers. The white stripe represents winter. The green stripe represents our farmland and forests. Gold represents our state’s natural wealth. The waves represent the state name, “minisota” — a Native American name which means “sky-tinted water.”
However the design of the flag is — and I’m searching for the right word here — okay. In my opinion the colors are bit bland, and that star is too large. The wave looks a bit too much like Charlie Brown’s shirt (no offense to the great Minnesotan, Mr. Shultz). Needless to say, its fine, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly it.
As much as the North Star flag is a real improvement over the current state flag, we can do better. Minnesota is much more vibrant and progressive place than this flag represents.
Therefore, I got to work. Creating, posting to the group, iterating. I went through at least 50 or 60 concepts and or iterations. At first I started riffing off the North Star flag, different types of stars and even an ugly sweater.
In sharing some of these concepts, a member of the group suggested using a variation of the star that appears within the rotunda of the State Capitol building. What makes this interesting is that the edges form to make four M’s. It also resembles a snow flake. Another group member, Aly Sevre, made the connection between the star in the state capitol and ugly sweaters.
I ran with Aly’s idea of the ugly sweater + directional star and I have to say it worked. While separate stars, they formed a cohesive and greater star (much like MPLS and StP are better together). Here’s a look:
Folks, we have our winner. This flag embraces the outdoors and winter all the while coming across as progressive. I should also note that it meets all the criteria of vexillological design guidelines by remaining quite simple so it can scale and remaining distinct.
I’d be proud to call this the flag of the state of Minnesota, and I hope you would too. If given the chance by the state legislature, I will be submitting this in whatever crowdsourcing contest and process they cobble together.
But what I really want to know is would you fly it?
* I also want to formally thank the Minnesotan’s for a Better Flag Facebook group who kept the feedback and inspiration coming along.
This flag is now available in t-shirt form.
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