A while back, I blogged about a TED Talk that was about flags.
The basic rules of flag design include:
- Keep it simple.
- Use meaningful symbolism.
- Use two to three basic colors.
- Don’t use lettering or seals (too hard to read from the ground when the flag is atop a pole).
- Be distinctive.
I live in Alameda, California. Alameda resident, Donald Ingraham, designed the Alameda flag back in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s as part of a city-wide contest for the design.
Based on these rules described in the TED Talk, our Alameda flag is well designed.
- It is simple — easy enough for a child to draw.
- It uses meaningful nautical symbolism to compliment Alameda’s “Island City” reputation.
- It uses three basic colors: red, white, and blue.
- It doesn’t use lettering nor seals.
- It is distinctive — incorporating the A for Alameda into the anchor in the middle.
Though I live in Alameda, I work in San Francisco. San Francisco, on the other hand, was…