Thursday, June 14, 2007

A dumb school logo

Tomorrow night I'm attending a high school commencement exercise also popularly known as a graduation. I happen to like graduation ceremonies and always have. I like the sense of achievement that is celebrated but I also know that just about everything that is achieved in high school means nothing. Even as I look back on my own high school graduation I'm able to remember many great memories and consider it a worthwhile moment in my life.


Anyway this graduation is at Arlington High School. Arlington is a small town north of Seattle along the freeway. When I looked at the logo of the school on the invitation I couldn't help but think I'd seen it before. It looked far too familiar to be merely a logo of an obscure high school.

I did some thinking and then discovered where I remember it. Below is the school's logo.

I'd like to add that the mascot of 'Eagle' is the most used mascot in the United States and isn't very original. I would go so far to call this logo lame but there is at least one corporation in the United States that makes a great deal of money from this logo. Below is their version.


This logo is of course the one used by Anheuser-Busch Companies known primarily for Budweiser Beer. The similarities are impossible to ignore.

I have some suggestions for the school to use their logo as an opportunity to get rid of their lame nickname and replace it with something more appropriate for their brand identity.

1. Arlington - The Cool, Refreshing High School

2. Arlington - The King of Schools

3. Arlington - When you've said lame mascot, you've said it all.

4. Arlington - Waaaazuuuuup? Doin' my homework...reading a book...

Before you email me and complain that I'm endorsing beer drinking in a post related to a high school I'd like to point out that I didn't choose the similar logo. I didn't pick their lame mascot. I didn't say anyone under the age of 21 should drink beer let alone Budweiser. Keep it in perspective please.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Normal updates coming

I won't go into too many details about the slowdown in updates except to say that I've been to four funerals in seven weeks. This is a unique time in my life that requires careful reflection and blogging updates have come slowly as a result.

Thank you for understanding.