New visitors to the HVDU may be wondering — how did you come up with that cool logo for the Debate Union? I’ve known you for ages, Pat, you can’t draw worth a darn.
Well, let me tell you about it.
My background is in media relations — public relations — journalism — that line of work. I wanted the HVDU to have a definite look-and-feel, a brand, in other words. Something … stately.
And I wanted the graphic look to say, “debate.” So, in my research, I found the Black and Red template from OpenSource Web design. I thought the contrast of the two colors, on a white background, just said “Debate.” I think you’ll agree.
Then I needed a logo that was, well, stately. My friends are absolutely right — I can’t draw worth a lick. But in the Age of the Web, this is not an unsolvable problem.
My searches led me to Says-it.com and their Official Seal Generator. A bit of playing around in there, including browsing through a gazillion graphic possibilities, and I found the eagle over the waters artwork.
Almost done. What else was needed? What every great seal needs. A motto. In Latin. Fortunately, the Seal Generator helps you there too, because it links to a page on Wiki-P with a list of Latin phrases. Outstanding! So I scanned until this one caught my eye: “dum Roma deliberat Saguntum perit” .. “while Rome debates, Saguntum is in danger.”
That has possibilites, I thought. Then further: While we’re debating at the Hudson Valley Debate Union, no one is in danger. No one’s gonna die — at least, not of debating. If we’re alive, we can talk about it. And argue about it, too. And it’s not going to kill us.
So, knowing that nihil means “nothing” or “nobody,” and hoping that Father Z would approve, I tweaked the phrase a little. Dum deliberat nihil perit. No one’s gonna die while we talk about it.
I hope my Principal Speakers and Voting Guests remember that.
