Mr. Winchester

Up in Alaska there’s a grizzly bear huntin

Out on the mountain there’s a boy on the run

The grizzly be bad, but he’d be better off hidin

He aint no match for Mr. Winchesters gun

 

I do believe there’s a lion awaitin

Sleepin off lunch in the African sun

He may be bad, but he’d be better off runnin

He aint no match for Mr. Winchesters gun

 

 

No, this isn’t a post about the vastly talented Hoyt Axton, arguably the most underappreciated singer/songwriters of the 20^th century.  And it is not a post about Winchester arms.  Or even about gun control. 

 

Our post today is about a young man named Mr. Winchester – but before we talk about him (and thank him profusely) we must back-story the post. 

 

(Yes, I know that randomly changing nouns into verbs is one of the things contributing to the downfall of western civilization; but sometimes I just can’t help myself!)

 

So. . . . . where to begin?  In the interest of time and space we will start right before the ending of the story.  We may return to the beginning and middle at a later time; there is fascinating sociological phenomena at work here. 

 

As you hopefully know, Team H.O.P.E. joined up with Simply the Breast to put on a golf tournament to raise money for the 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer.  Simply the Breast had a pink ribbon/rose logo that they used the previous two years at their tournaments.  We wanted/needed a logo that reflected the merger of the two teams.  Although we are a creative group, none of us has any experience in graphic arts, and apparently none of us even have the rudimentary software one would need to design a simple logo. 

 

In one of those friend of a friend of a friend moments that make life so much fun we managed to secure the talents and time of a real live professional artist.  He is more than a graphic artist; I’m not sure what he would call himself.  We call him precious!  Here is a short list of his services:

 

• Art Direction and Concept Development
• Flash Animation
• Web Design
• Interactive Learning Objects
• Interface Design
• Multimedia Presentations
• Illustration
• Character Design
• Logo Design

 And he does this work for honest to goodness paying companies.  I was going to paste a few of the cooler logos he has designed here but they are copyrighted images.  You can visit his company, Art Escapes, by clicking here: http://www.artescapesonline.com/index.html

 

And the name of the young man who designed the professional graphic now gracing our site?  Mr. Shawn Winchester!  I probably should quit referring to him as a young man – as near as I can figure he is just three years younger than I, and I’m not exactly a rookie!  Nonetheless I bet he is younger at heart than I.  I bet he texts and has those blue teeth my cell phone company keeps trying to sell me! 

 

Mr. Winchesters company motto is “Listen, Understand, Design”  

We will put aside any snide jokes about a man who actually listens.  Especially since it isn’t just men who seem to have difficulty listening.  We’ve all had the experience of telling a professional what we want, only to have them give us a recommendation that is so far removed from our needs that we wonder if we were actually speaking out loud.   

When I tell a car salesperson that I don’t need or want a backseat DVD player because I feel strongly that we don’t need continuous entertainment in our lives and am assured that the unit not only plays DVDs, but also supports video game systems I contemplate vehicular assault.  

Finding a professional that listens is rare and deeply gratifying.  Having this professional donate his time and talent is just short of miraculous.  

Thank you Mr. Winchester, we love our new logo!

I know I said I wasn’t writing about Hoyt Axton but you will forgive me if I include a couple quick pics?   I would include a pic of Mr. Winchester but I have no idea what he looks like.  I bet he’s a cutie, just like Mr. Axton! 

 

Hoyt Axton 1960

 

Hoyt Axton 1990