ATS Teacher Certification Stamp

During a decompression meal after my FCBD ATS® Teacher Training intensive down in San Francisco in 2008, Sooz, Carla, Carrie, Quinn, and I were at a  restaurant where they had paper on all the tables which you could jot on with crayons, pens, and pencils.  We were making all kinds of doodles as we talked and laughed.  We each were going home from the intensive with different plans--Carrie and Sooz were planning to be FCBD Sister Studios; while Quinn, Carla, and I wished to stay independent studios and stick with the FCBD Teacher Certified Studio moniker. We were talking about how it was great that all of us were going home with an official "stamp of approval" from Carolena to go forth and teach FCBD ATS in our classes and workshops. As we talked about our plans, I made a little sketch of a stamp, which you see here.

We talked about how cool it would be if that were part of the certification "reward"--that you got a shirt or a bag or something with the official "certified" stamp on it.  I said I could whip one up when I got home to see what it might look like.

So once home, I sat down to my handy dandy Adobe Illustrator and made a sample stamp, which is what you see to the right.  I put it up on the private ATSGSTT tribe (at the time, maybe 25 members) and we talked about how cool it would be if Carolena would use it or something like it on schwag.  Through discussion in the tribe about it, we were clear that this was not an official FCBD® logo, but just something I had designed for fun. People asked if they could use it, and I said absolutely, but please with credit to the designer.  Carolena said she didn't mind us using it so long as we didn't claim it was an official logo from FC. So a few people grabbed the image and put it on their websites with credit/note/link to my page.

Well you know what happens on the internet, right? People see it, they want it, they grab it and spread it around without the original artist's credit, and without understanding that this was not an official logo.  Carolena did contact me a while back asking permission to use the logo, and I did give her permission, but she has never used it or released it in any official capacity.  In the time since, this image has spread around, and many people have even tried to chop it up or re-color it to fit their site designs. Since it is a very low-res version that was never meant for those uses, in some cases it looks pretty shabby. Still other people have taken the design as a template and made their own versions of it, not understanding the story behind the original logo...basically it is now everywhere.

So rather than watch the image further degrade with slapdash edits, I have made a new version which should be more versatile. It is the exact same original design file, but I have removed the year for flexibility of use, added the registered trademark which Carolena has asked us to use, tweaked it to look more "stamp-like", and made it a transparent png so it should layer much more gracefully over both light and dark backgrounds. 

I still respectfully ask that you use it with credit. A link back to http://www.deeprootsdance.com would be greatly appreciated. You see, I am not just a dancer, but also a web and graphic designer.  So when something as popular as this design gets spread around, it would be kind and ethical to link back to the designer who created it, yeah? Thanks so much for your consideration.

So here it is, in a transparent png format, approx 400px square, 200dpi (should print around 2 inches square). You can pull it down here and it should be a good large size which can be resized for web sites and small print projects. If you have need of it for larger print projects, I do not recommend you use this version.

Use it with pride, credit it clearly and thoughtfully, and continue to teach and dance with joy!

Wayback Machine delivers memories...

I was searching for an old web page of mine today, and took a little walk down memory lane in the process.

A December 2001 performance by Gypsy Caravan at the Pink Door. They are wearing costumes I created for them. I remember when they used to come up a few times a year, and how magical it was to see them, to dance with them...*sigh*
http://web.archive.org/web/20020707203356/www.kamikazecostumes.com/gypsycaravan.html

My first trip to Breitenbush for Ancient Echoes:
http://web.archive.org/web/20020707203430/www.kamikazecostumes.com/breitenbush.html

My old vending tent at Med Fest, vending with Zanbaka:
http://web.archive.org/web/20020611063004/www.kamikazecostumes.com/medfest.html

My first Med Fest performance, with Veils of the Nile. Bet you can't tell my beloved Fat Chance bra is on upside down!
http://web.archive.org/web/20020213014218/www.kamikazecostumes.com/veilsofthenile.html

My old class page, on one of my oldest web site designs back when I first started learning HTML:
http://web.archive.org/web/20020805024324/www.kamikazecostumes.com/index2.html

I love seeing these old pages and pics!

Web design...

Had a few more contracts crop up for web design lately. I am trying to streamline my design process, but am finding it tough. I just like the visual design part so much better than the code part!

So today I "attended" my final online Web Design Bootcamp webinar, and it covered HTML5 and CSS3 in brief. In particular, "embedded" fonts in web page design. But it's so much more than that. Whew!  I feel overwhelmed with the possibilities and what new things I will need to learn to take advantage of it. With 98% of all browsers supporting the new font functionality, we can start using it RIGHT NOW. how exciting is that? Even IE is ahead of the game on this one. Looking forward to seeing what it allows us to create...