The design of independence (or not)

Today Scotland was voting on whether we should be independent from the UK.

One thing I have found interesting about this debate is the design aspect - of course!
The comments below are totally politically objective - they're about design and nothing to do with how I voted :-)

'Yes' is an easy message to design for - the word is inherently positive; you just need to say it with no frills. Here's their logo:

The other side had a definite disadvantage from that point of view - 'no' is an inherently negative word (of course, if the question had been 'should Scotland remain in the UK?' it would have been the other side dealing with this problem). The slogan they started with (and have kept for some things) was 'Better Together'.

Positive, but hardly competes for snappiness with a large 3-letter word. Not ideal for window stickers, and also, importantly, doesn't explicitly tell people what to vote.

So, they changed their logo and slogan to this one:

I really like this solution: The addition of the word 'thanks' makes it polite and friendly. The cross shows you that you've to vote 'no', and, when reversed out of blue, it looks like a Scottish flag:

Not sure if that was deliberate, as they often don't reverse it, or use other colours. But I think it's a good way to emphasise that voting against independence is not being unpatriotic.


And on that note, here's another one I liked:

It parodies the 'Yes' logo, and it is both Scottish and, importantly in this debate, working class.

Alea jacta est

I have cast my vote.

Some random thoughts:

• I really wish there was an 'I don't know' box. Because, really, I don't. Therefore, I would prefer to vote 'I don't know', and that we would only have independence if a majority actually voted yes.
• I hope, whichever way it goes, there is a very clear majority. Scary if it was just one vote out and therefore the result was my fault.
• In the end, I voted based on 'which would I regret most not doing?'
• If the result is 'no', I'll be relieved; if it's 'yes' I'll be excited. And have some fairly negative feelings with both results as well.
• There has been so much scaremongering on both sides, and accusations of lying on both sides, it's hard to have any clear idea of what independence would actually mean.
• It's not about the SNP and the Tories. If we have independence, in the long term we could have any kind of government including conservative. Therefore all the SNP's socialist utopia ideas will only last until the next general election - which is either good or bad depending on your views :-)
• There is no morally/spiritually 'right' way to vote, but there are morally/spiritually good reasons for voting each way, morally/spiritually bad reasons for voting each way, and morally/spiritually neutral reasons for voting each way.
• I found the Independence Debate at Harper Memorial church very helpful. Although it did confuse me more about which way I wanted to vote, it also allayed some of my fears on both sides. Nice to see politicians being nice to each other, actually answering questions (!) and referring to each other as brothers.
• "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4v6-7
• "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8v28  Which is not to say everything will work out in a way that seems good at the time...
• Will Scotland get to keep unmarked stamps? Because it was a Scot who invented them.

Computer-generated 'art'?

"I believe that the human brain has the best scripts possible and no computer can recreate the same. It can look the same, it can imitate it pretty well but it will never have a "Soul" to it. a script can’t know that a tiny white dot in the eye is a reflection that gives emotion to the whole work."

Mordy Levi

Click here to see his beautiful hand-generated Low-Poly* illustrations of sealife. And also some portraits and pictures showing how he did it here.

*i.e. made only of flat-colour triangles - as few as possible.

Cute little robot

I was needing a new USB hub.
I couldn't resist this one.

Do you think Wall•E and Eve are his parents? Seems to have a mix of their genes.

Jesus, hope of the nations

Today at church there were people from:
Scotland, Iran, England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Argentina, Spain, Azerbaijan...