Uncategorized•
on August 12th, 2010•
My most recent trip to Haiti is serving to further sharpen my emerging thoughts on the issues of poverty and how to effectively help anyone ensnared in it. With our a wealth and knowledge (and by “our” I mean the US but it applies to all developed countries) how do we avoid creating dependency and instead empower a developing people? How do we retain the dignity of the individual and not run roughshod over their culture?
Haiti has had a problem even before the earthquake. In fact, this problem is common throughout the developing world because I have seen it in my trips to Africa as well. The problem seems to be us – the ones, like me, who like quick fixes, and easy answers. After the earthquake Haiti clearly needed short term help. But what about now? Our “help” needs to be much less about giving things to those who are poor and much more about empowering them. All we do is create a dependency when we do for Haitians what they should be empowered to do for themselves. We can become the problem – and there are those who say we have!
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i58:10 Media•
on August 10th, 2010•
This past weekend my wife and I were in Mexico City, where I was photographing a wedding for some friends of ours that we met during a missions trip a couple of years ago.
On our way home we spent a couple of hours in the Mexico City International Airport. In the middle of one of the largest cities in the world, filled with both poverty and wealth, sits one of the busiest airports on Earth.
To my surprise, in of one of the biggest and most impoverished cities in the world I discovered beautiful architecture in the ceiling of an airport. I was impressed by the design and imagination that was used in the creation of what in most buildings is a boring necessity of infrastructure. With 238 days a year of clear skys the Mexico City International Airport is filled with light by the 1000’s of skylights that hang above the heads of weary passengers headed to their temporary or permanent destinations. We find beauty where we least expect it and are often inspired by things that have no connection to our passions or work.
Are you looking for inspiration in the every day? Are you allowing God to show you his magnificence in the inanimate?
Jordan Chesbrough – Creative Director | Web & Design
haiti•
on August 10th, 2010•
Grace Village, Haiti
Yesterday, my last full day in Haiti, I experienced something I never want to experience again. News reports predicted it. I knew that it was just a matter of time. Still, I was unprepared for the intensity of what I experienced and felt. It rained.
On this recent trip to Haiti I spent my time in Grace Village, the 2nd largest refugee camp in Haiti after the earthquake. As the rain began Sunday evening about 20,000 displaced Haitians ran to take cover under tarps, in tents, and even under a scraggly tree in the middle of the compound. The light rain intensified into a storm, then a downpour, then into what I can only describe as an onslaught of rain, wind, thunder and lightning. The makeshift roads and pathways in this seven month old community soon became a decent size current of rain and mud sweeping through and between the thousands of tarps and tents. I was in one of those tents. I heard the rain slam against the roof and like thousands of others in that storm, I prayed that the tarp would hold.
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haiti•
on August 6th, 2010•
Tomorrow morning I fly again into Haiti. I’ve been to Haiti three other times, the last time was shortly after the January 12th earthquake. Last time I came to Haiti I stayed on the roof of the World Concern offices and brought in my own food and tent…this time I’m actually sleeping in a refugee camp with 22,000 other people.
This time I’m coming down to Haiti to capture stories for Forward Edge International, a ministry based in Vancouver, Washington. It’s a quick trip – just three days – but already I can feel myself being anxious. I’m not anxious about staying in a tarp city or about the inevitable lack of sleep I’ll get by living next to so many people with nothing but a tarp between us. I’m getting a sense of anxiety because I know that on Monday I’ll be getting on a plane and flying back home to my comfortable life in Wilsonville, Oregon. How will I feel about that? And I have other questions: What will I say to the Haitian people I interview when I leave them, knowing that they’ll still be living in a tent, still struggling to survive, still battling the rains and the poverty that is Haiti, and I’ll be safe and secure back in my world? How will I be different from this trip? Will my empathy and passion increase, or will I see the conditions and justify it away in my mind? Those are the types of questions that raise my anxiety level.
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Non-Profit Marketing•
on June 10th, 2010•
Something we come across often when working with ministries are outdated logos. It’s something that is often overlooked in most organizations. Your logo has sentimental value and represents your ministry but change doesn’t have to be drastic and can contribute greatly to the public’s perception of who you are. With all of our client our desire is to represent them for how great they actually are and sometimes bad design is worst representation of a ministry
In some cases an organization plain and simple just has a bad logo and it needs to be redone. Most of the time however, a logo just needs a simple update that shows the ministry is relevant but does not compromise the familiarity of your brand. Different design techniques are popular in different decades and unless you have a timeless logo it might show its age.
We had the privileged of updating the Phoenix Rescue Mission’s logo recently. The update was as simple as a font change a little bit of rearranging. This new logo is current and fresh but can still be used along side the old logo and act as a transition as they update signs, business cards and other promotional material.
Recently Google quietly updated the logo on their homepage. If you weren’t paying attention you might not have noticed it but it is a perfect example of what we are talking about. You would think with a large business like Google who’s logo defines their brand wouldn’t want to touch their design. But Google’s billions doesn’t hold them back from doing what is right for their organization. This year Google made some subtle changes to their logo to keep it up to date but managed not to compromise their brand integrity. No one probably even noticed this but subconsciously Google managed to stay relevant in the eyes of their users. Take a look below and see if you can tell the difference?
Now think about the fact that Google probably had to pay significant amount of money to make this change.
Is it worth it for your organization?
