Design a Logo

I took on the name Honey Badger as my team. By team, mind you, I mean me. I don’t really have a group or club or team that I belong to. At work, we have a club but since it is through work, there is some resistance in my mind about the name and the team, in general. Biking is one of those things that is mine and I get very protective over it.

Anyhow, for the MS City to Shore right this year, I actually have two people coming with me – and maybe more. For this group, I wanted to come up with a logo that wasn't something I stole off the internet.

Back Up a Step
If you do not know why the honey badger is such a hit these days - or was a hit, depending on if you are "over" the joke or not - you can check out what started it all on YouTube in the video titled: The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger (original narration by Randall)

Needing a Logo

So much like with a team, having one uniting logo can really inspire team spirit and a “we are in this together” spirit. This can also give individuals in the team something to hold on to when things get rough in training or during an event. When you are part of a team, you are part of something bigger than yourself and that can be the push people need to fight through physical and mental obstacles. 

It also sends a message to those around you that you are part of something. Having rode my first century alone, I can tell you I feel really alone surrounded by all these people in their team specific colors and jerseys. Not enough that I felt bad about myself, it just seemed like they were all part of something really cool.

Making a Logo

Grrr

When coming up with a design, you have to think about what your team is and what it represents. We are team Honey Badgers and the obvious logo would be the actually honey badger. 

I have seen a lot of cool honey badger cartoons, drawings and logos and I know I cannot come up with something as awesome as all that. For one, I can’t draw. For twos, I don’t have access to amazing software to make something really awesome. 

If you remember, I use PowerPoint a lot – I had a post called Customized Desktop where I used it to achieve what I needed. I don’t have mad realistic design skills, only conceptual ones. 

But, back to the Honey Badgers.

Rather than try to find someone to draw for me – and ultimately probably not achieve the look I want – I boiled down the elements of what I liked about what I did see. I liked the crest idea – the medieval or ivy league look. I think the juxtaposition of something so noble looking and the grit of the honey badger is pretty cool. 

When You Can’t Draw

Right. I can’t. However, I can find some free items online and fake it. I found myself a shield outline, added the bars to create four sections. Why four? Four places I can represent stuff about the team. 

Again, I can’t draw and I don’t want to steal someone else’s work. I also want to be unique. Good thing there are a lot of free, no copyright stuff out there - at least, as far as I know using my due diligence and ClipArt.

Here is what I wanted in my crest:

• Honey badger.
• Winning.
• Dominance.
• Something hardcore.
• Something with some white space, too.

This is what I ended up with – and I couldn't be prouder.

Go Honey Badgers!

Feedback
Getting responses and edits from other people is always good. Especially when they love it. 

Yes!

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Image Credit

Honey badger from badassoftheweek.com

Manda's Musings: Desktop Ideas

Everyone has different ways that they operate in the world. Because I am vain and have a blog, I figured I would start writing some posts that cover what I think makes life easier or maybe some off-the-wall things I do that I might as well document here because when I mention them to people in conversation they look at me weird.

Also, this will help give me some postings when I can't actually be doing thing that, you know, cost money. Oddly enough, me writing (and talking too much) rarely cost money.

Besides, I find other people's ideas and way they conduct business in the world helpful. Maybe I'll be helpful.

Why?
This whole concept was birthed when I found that the pitiful skills I have obtained over my 32 documented years in existence were actually helpful to someone else – like, I know a lot about poop. Output, people. Your output is important and can tell you many, many valuable things about your health and position in the universe.

Custom Desktop
For my first entry, I am going to just explain how I class up my workspace with a custom background.

I like decorating up my desktop with a nice background (wallpaper, monitor background, thingy). Now, I have photos of my friends and family around my desk at work but I spend most of my time staring at my computer. So, why not put some pictures there.

Not really a groundbreaking thought, lots of people have a picture up of friends, family or pets. I just, don’t want to stare at one photo all day. That bothers my need for visual interest. Besides, I have more than one interest when it comes to my friends, family and pets.

This is what I created as my desktop background:


Identities have been delicately protected 

Ever since I put this up and had some visitors and did some Webexs, people have pointed out that they like the idea of being able to customize a desktop with more than just one picture.
How To
To create this, all you really need is a simple program like PowerPoint. I don’t have a lot of fancy stuff where I work because I don’t need it, I tend to have to use PowerPoint if I am going to create something. It doesn’t work too bad, you have a lot of options and you can always “Save As” a jpeg. Plus, keeping the ppt means I can go in and change out pictures and items as I want.

I'm sure someone out there is a wiz in Photoshop and can do a lot better than me.

First, I found a background image I liked – that was from pptbackgrounds.net. I like sticking to a desk theme. And I do like notepads and coffee.

Then I found the some pictures - one from my brother’s wedding, my hot boyfriend and one of, you know, the cat being a ham. I applied a “Drop Shadow Rectangle” from the Picture Tools option and a little black boarder to add some style.  

I also added a little text message from my boyfriend, a funny logo from redbubble.com (they have fun t-shirts) and, of course, a master detective badge from Mystery Case Files.

The Point
The point, right. Well, some people really like this concept of making a custom desktop. Give it a try. I think you could do something that looks more scrapbook-like or even something that has a olde world feel. You can create a virtual shadowbox of an event or vacation – you are limited only by your imagination.

Be Part of the Adventure

Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.