The Boots on the Ground Logo!
Steve Schock, co-leader of the design team, and artist, mentor, and friend, Alonzo Edwards a.k.a. “iMi”, and I embarked on a journey in April 2015 to facilitate a process that would breathe into being a logo that will come to represent strength, simplicity, and redemption. This proved to be both inspiring and challenging. The picture below was one of the original mock ups by Steve as we were considering ideas.
We had 5 design meetings over a two month period via Skype and were graced with ideas and input from nearly 50 supporters and dozens of conversations with the 14 members of our B.O.G. Volunteer Corps.
One of our favorite comments from an anonymous feedback survey was to the last question, “anything else you’d like to share?”, and the beautiful response, “I like turtles and pizza!” Ha. We do too. And to those who bring smiles to the world, please keep being you! Our guess is that we secretly have a Ninja Turtle as a supporter.
We hope you get a barrage of positive feelings from this logo. Our team sure has. We’re inspired by the possibilities and invite you to imagine with us the impact we’re going to have together, every day, on the lives of veterans experiencing homelessness and everyone we come into contact with.
This logo is going to share the story of our work with anyone who wears our B.O.G. t-shirts, hoodies, bags, bracelets, and other accessories & swag(being designed now) leading up to the launch of our boots. Sign up here to be among the first to know when these are available! The B.O.G. Street Team will have these for sale downtown near the Tigers & Lions Stadiums as well as online. More to come on this exciting development soon.
Please comment on this blog and start a conversation with us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to let us know what you think.
The Artist Who Believes Anything is Possible!
"A world where people discover themselves as a contribution to humanity, and are able to express that to the world while having a life that works, is the world I am striving to create."
- Alonzo “iMi”
As I Am
Home grown out of Grand Blanc, Michigan Alonzo Edwards is what many have
called a "true artist". From drawing, painting, and sculpting to singing, writing,
and producing, Alonzo has been blowing people away with his creations for over
twenty years.
He studied art at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan where he
honed his visual art skills while slowly discovering his love for music. As he
continued to grow musically, his love for it grew the same and after graduating
music became his main focus for a few years.
Now he resides in Los Angeles where he has found a way to pursue both visual art and music! He has dedicated his creativity to inspire people to be fully self-expressed in their lives and fulfill on dreams/passions they may have given up on.
He currently works full time as the designer at a retail/wholesale organic body jewelry company called Urban Star Organics, and developing my music career part time.
Music: soundcloud.com/imi_imi Art: fraternaleasels.com Job: urbanstaro.com
Why the Phoenix?
Detroit’s motto is, "Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus," Latin for "We Hope for Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes." On June 11, 1805, the city of approximately 600 residents burned almost completely to the ground. This is depicted on the city's flag as both the burning city and the future dream city many Detroiters hope for.
We rebuilt then. We rebuild now. How we do it is of worldly importance. We can embrace a culture of caring or stay tuned into the culture of comfort that has us forgetting our shared humanity. The opportunity exists today to transcend our conditioning to "other" each other and reimagine and build a caring society that “Leaves No One Behind”! The legend of the phoenix developed in ancient Egypt and was adopted by the ancient Greeks. To the Egyptians the bird stood for the sun, which rises anew each day. In some cultures this bird is an archetypal dream symbol that brings us positive and powerful images of rebirth. This bird is a reminder that we have internal powers of regeneration and that we have the power to change things for the better.
