Struggling for a Head Badge

The hardest part of getting my frames to “completion” has been the battle to get a head badge design done. My experience with design is as a web designer, not as a graphic artist. A gap in my skillset (for more on skills you should have see my other blog entry “Becoming a Framebuilder“), to be sure, and one I eventually plan to rectify.

I’m on my second artist now. I won’t go into details as to why I’ve switched except to say that my vision didn’t match that of the artist, and with both our schedules being crazy busy, I was falling further and further behind the curve. As it is, I won’t have them ready for Minnecycle at the end of the month. He did produce a pretty nifty rough draft of one that’s very art deco, and while I’m not 100% sure I’ll use it as a full-time badge, it might become available as a limited-edition variant:

Possible head badge. Designed by Aaron Smith.

Everyone has something on a bike that jumps out at them at first look. For me, it’s the head badge. (I also struggle with whether to type it as “headbadge” or as two separate words.) So when I commit, it’s got to be just right. I’ve asked Aaron to come up with another design, and given him a little bit of feedback re: styling and so forth. I’m hoping that he can come up with something in the next week or so that I can show at Minnecycle, and have put on bikes by the end of October.

So. I’d love your thoughts on Aaron’s first crack at it, pictured above. What’s the first thing you think when you see it?

No Session This Weekend

No session this weekend, as Paul’s come down with some sort of illness acquired while at NAHBS. Going to take the opportunity to work on the website’s visual layer and see if I can’t get that done.

Also, I’ve provided some feedback to the artist that’s handling the artwork for my head tube badge. Hoping to hear back on that by Monday or Tuesday.

And since temps are going to be pushing 45°F today, I think I’m going to get out for a few hours on the road bike in the morning, before I go to the gym this evening (weights, followed by an S1 workout on the trainer for 60 minutes). It’ll be good to test out the new contacts out on the road.^*

If you’re local (Minneapolis) and aren’t out on your bike sometime today, please smack yourself in the face.

* I’ve never owned contact lenses before. Seriously.