The story behind the story of our village flag...
(In the words of Dan van Loon, Designer)
Among the requirements for submitting an entry in the competition was the design had to incorporate the village seal, or part of it. I thought the village seal was used on the village vehicle stickers. That design was appropriately a big silhouette of a wagon wheel. So, my original submission did not have the Illinois map and banner image which was (and is) in the old village seal. It had a nice big and simple black silhouette of a wagon wheel, like the one in subsequent village logos.
A representative of the Jaycees came to my house after they had decided to award 1st prize to my design, but they requested that I replace the wagon wheel image with the village seal. I really did NOT want to do that, as I considered the simplicity, visual strength, and meaning of the wagon wheel FAR better. I wished I had been around when the village seal had been created. (In fact, I believe that was also a Jaycees sponsored design competition back in the 1960s.) But, I acquiesced and gave 'the client' what they wanted.
"It turns out that was a valuable lesson in client relations, as today I am the founding partner of Design Corps (designcorps.us), a design firm in Batavia, IL and Colorado Springs. Winning that competition fueled my passion for design and had a positive impact on my life."
--Dan Van Loon |