Milwaukee Flag Design
Medium: Photoshop
Size: 25.4 x 38.1 cm
November 2015
Exhibition Text: For my flag design, I wanted to incorporate as much history of Milwaukee as I could, but not make my flag look like a mess. I decided to keep it simple, while having lots of symbolism behind it.
Medium: Photoshop
Size: 25.4 x 38.1 cm
November 2015
Exhibition Text: For my flag design, I wanted to incorporate as much history of Milwaukee as I could, but not make my flag look like a mess. I decided to keep it simple, while having lots of symbolism behind it.
Process:
Research:
Since I didn't really know much about Milwaukee, other than the fact that it's very racially diverse, I decided to do some research on the city. I wanted to do research on Milwaukee's past since my flag design would focus on it's past and not it's present history. I found out about the history of the Milwaukee Brewers, the Great Lakes, the multiple Native American tribes that lived in Milwaukee, and more like the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower, the brewery business and Milwaukee's industrial history.
Since I didn't really know much about Milwaukee, other than the fact that it's very racially diverse, I decided to do some research on the city. I wanted to do research on Milwaukee's past since my flag design would focus on it's past and not it's present history. I found out about the history of the Milwaukee Brewers, the Great Lakes, the multiple Native American tribes that lived in Milwaukee, and more like the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower, the brewery business and Milwaukee's industrial history.
Rules to a Good Flag:
- must be simple - use meaningful symbolism - use 2-3 basic colors from the standard color set (red, blue, green, yellow, etc.) - no lettering or seals (no words of any kind) - be distinctive (or be related) - (small 3x5 in. planning sketch for starters) |
Example of a BAD flag:
Moody, Tarik. 88Nine. N.p., 19 May 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015. <http://www.radiomilwaukee.org/flag>
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Designing:
Since I didn't have much time to work on Photoshop in school and I didn't have it on my laptop, I created most of my designs on Paint and on Fresh Paint. I created four flag designs, in which I chose one and retouched it. The design I chose as my final flag design was first created on Paint, I then recreated it on Fresh Paint, and finally finished it on Photoshop at school. |
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Artistic Inspiration:
For inspiration, I decided to look at other flag examples of Milwaukee and other city flags from different states. I then saw the flag from Denver, Colorado, and it has a simple design, few colors, and it had no seals or wording of any kind. The flag dealt with Denver's nature, as the yellow circle represented Colorado's golden hills and sun, the blue represents the community’s skies, the white jagged line is the mountains which form Denver’s background, and is also symbolizes the state’s Native American heritage. The flag was created by Margaret Overbeck, who was a student at North High School, and the flag was adopted in 1926.
"Denver Flag." Erraticmindflux. N.p., 04 May 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2015. <https://erraticmindflux.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/denver-flag/>. |
Cultural Inspiration:
Since the whole project is about Milwaukee, the cultural inspiration was Milwaukee's culture. I used personal experience and research to help inspire me for ideas as to what I wanted my flag to look like.
Sketches:
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When I first started thinking about ideas, I wanted my color scheme to automatically be blue, green, and black. I chose these colors because they're simple, and one of the rules of flag designing is "use 2-3 basic colors from the standard color set". I also wanted to include a seal, even though one of the rules says not to include a seal. This seal would have arms and fists in the air with each having a different skin tone to represent the diversity of races living in Milwaukee. I decided that maybe I should try some other ideas, so I looked into the background of the brewery business in Milwaukee. I found out most of the beer in Milwaukee is make with barley ( a cereal grain), and so I drew my own barley so I could scan it and fix it up in Paint or Photoshop. Some other sketches I made were of the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower and the Milwaukee Art Museum. The clock tower has been around since 1962 and is the world's second largest four-faced clock.
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Designs:
My first sketch/design has the color scheme of blue, green, yellow, and black. The blue is suppose to represent the Great Lakes, the yellow is suppose to represent the color of barley used for brewery in Milwaukee, and the green doesn't really have a role in the design.
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My second sketch/design also has the color scheme of blue, green, yellow, and black. The blue represents Milwaukee's baseball team, the Brewers. The barley symbol in the middle is also used to represent the brewery in Milwaukee, and again the green has no significance.
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My third flag design relates to the Menominee Tribe here in Milwaukee. I used their symbol to put on the center of my flag design, and the blue to represent the Great Lakes.
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My fourth flag design has multiple components of Milwaukee's history. I had the blue represent the Milwaukee Brewers, the waves represent the Great Lakes, the green is for the greenery and forests in Milwaukee, the yellow stands for the barley used in brewery, and the points stand for the points on the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower.
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Meaning Behind My Piece:
I wanted my piece to have as much of Milwaukee's history as possible. The green represents the forestry in Wisconsin, and the blue represents our baseball team, The Milwaukee Brewers, and the team has been around in Milwaukee since 1970. The waves on my flag stand for the Great Lakes, as Lake Michigan lies next to Wisconsin, and a part of it next to Milwaukee. The sun on my flag stands for two things: the yellow color represents the color of barley, which is mostly used in brewery (also a big part of history in Milwaukee), and the rays/triangles of the sun are meant to look like the points/hours of the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower. I brought all these historic parts of Milwaukee together in one final piece.
Reflection:
The project seemed easy at first, but as time went on I realized I was wrong. Since I thought I had lots of time, I slacked off a lot and worked on other projects or school work. Then as the final date got nearer and nearer, I realized I had nothing done. My procrastination definitely got in the way in this project, and next time I would manage my time more efficiently. Another struggle I had with this project was not being able to have as much time on Photoshop as I wanted to. I don't have Photoshop at home, so I had to find other ways to make my designs