Check Out That New Logo!

Hopefully you're seeing a fancy new logo up there at the top of the page and down a bit along the right-hand side of the link bar. Isn't it pretty? I think so (though I probably need to increase the resolution a bit).

When I first started thinking about getting a professionally done logo to replace my own poorly-crafted one, for a variety of reasons the first name that came to mind was that of Brandon Reese. I knew there was a lot of talent in the kids music field -- Billy Kelly, for example, or Kevin Kameraad, not to mention musicians with a nice eye for design, such as Frances England. But Brandon was definitely my first choice.

You're probably familiar with Reese's work -- he's designed album covers for Lunch Money and The Jellydots, not to mention a bunch of games and other stuff for eeBoo. (And I interviewed him a little more than a year ago.)

He has a sense of whimsy and play along with a strong design sense, two things I wanted to convey with this new logo, and I think he nailed it. That logo on the right is what I like to think of as the main logo, the one that if I were to sell all sorts of stuff would be plastered all over it. (Anybody need a men's organic t-shirt?) But it's got a very portrait orientation and sometimes I'm all landscape-y, so Reese designed a second logo that incorporated part of that first logo...

Anyway, I'm very happy with the logo. Thanks to Brandon for taking some pretty vague design concepts and turning them into something with a virtually no fuss. If you want to learn a little bit more about the design process for this logo and Reese's next projects, read on...
Zooglobble: What particular design challenges did you face with designing this logo?
Brandon Reese: I think my main challenge was to make sure the logo read well in small and larger formats. I also wanted to keep the colors to a minimum to keep costs down when printing business cards, letterheads, t-shirts, etc.

There were a few things that you said you wanted the logo to convey. You wanted to show some sort of action and stay away from kids idly just listening to music. You also wanted me to think about Zooglobble's motto "kids music worth sharing".

It's funny. When I was just about to send off my first round of sketches to you, the jumprope image came to me. I quickly doodled it and added it to the email. That was the sketch that ultimately became the logo.

Is there anything in the logo you're particularly pleased with?
I really dig that the headphones and jumprope create a semicircle. I'm big on symmetry. It keeps my OCD brain happy.

What other projects are you currently working on?
Currently, I'm working on a robot-themed colored pencil set and sketchbook cover for eeBoo. Oh, and just last week I met with Molly Ledford from Lunch Money to discuss the visual direction for their next album. It's going to be sweet!... mmmmm... donuts...

Here is a donut- O
Here is a donut hole- •
I ate some of this donut- C
Sorry, only crumbs left- ...

Video: "This Too Shall Pass" - OK Go

What do you do if your last viral video was an incredibly simple (if well-thought-out) dance routine on treadmills. You go all super-complex. Rube-Goldberg-like, even. The internet exploded today because of this, and for darn good reason. (More behind-the-scenes stuff here.) This isn't a kids song (there's a low-grade curse word I completely missed until reading the lyrics), but I think kids are gonna go nuts for this. I kinda did, too, in my own little way. (I also love the way they comment on "Here We Go Again.")

OK Go - "This Too Shall Pass" [YouTube]

Monday Morning Smile: "MLK" (U2, arr. Bob Chilcott) - "Vox Laci Youth Choir"

The last time I did this, the smile was more of a grin. Well, after hearing the Phoenix Chorale do a fabulous version of U2's "MLK" as arranged by Bob Chilcott at their sold-out "Darkness and Light" concert on Saturday, I knew I wanted to share this lullaby. I preferred the Chorale's version to anything I could find online, but I think you'll get the point. A bit of calm for the week ahead.

Vox Laci Youth Choir - "MLK" (U2, arr. Bob Chilcott) [YouTube]

Monday Morning Smile: "Hey Hey You Say" - Papas Fritas

An early, as-yet-unrevealed formative video experience for Michael Rachap?

Who knows, but this is pretty much a guaranteed grin. Not kids music, but bring 'em round the computer.

Papas Fritas - "Hey Hey You Say" [YouTube]

Dan Zanes: Movie Star and Cultural Icon

OK, I'm overstating it, but there's no question that Dan Zanes is reaching some level of cultural saturation that might even go beyond Laurie Berkner and the Wiggles.

No, it has nothing to do with Wonderful World, a new movie starring Matthew Broderick. Zanes announced last month that he'd written some songs for, and had a small on-screen role in, the movie, which is about an ex-children's music singer who's looking for a new direction in his life and that he'd written some songs for the movie. (More details on Zanes' role in the movie can be found here -- interestingly enough, director/writer Josh Goldin said he "loosely based [the lead character's] back story on the children's music heavyweight Raffi -- specifically his unsuccessful attempt to make records for adults.")

No, what I want to mention is this Dan Zanes shout-out -- of sorts -- in Greenberg, an upcoming movie from Noah Baumbach, which stars Ben Stiller as... some other guy who's looking for a new direction in his life. (Hat tip: Mr. Richard.) It comes at the very end of the trailer (the money shot, as it were) and the quote from Stiller's character makes no sense -- he's suggesting to a bunch of apparently college-age kids that they grew up on Dan Zanes, which, considering that Zanes' only been releasing kids music for literally 10 years, seems, well, wrong.

But I'm more interested in the fact that Baumbach threw Zanes' name into the script and that the trailer creators thought Zanes' name was enough of a marker that it'd signal a particular attitude to a particular audience -- an audience, for example, who would recognize LCD Soundsystem's so incredible "All My Friends" (James Murphy does this soundtrack) as the background music.

If only Hollywood Squares were still on the air, I think Zanes would be set...