The Only Thing that Sets You Apart
is Your Story

Our Story by Lucas Mack

By Chelsea Sontra

To infinity, and beyond! No, Buzz Lightyear is not in the running to win a sub-orbital space flight, but Mercer Island’s very own Roger Ressmeyer is, and he is just as passionate as any other space ranger. As an adult, Roger could live the dream of any child who has ever gazed upon the night sky and wondered how he or she can get up there. With your Facebook votes you can help him do more than just look up!

Member of Canon’s celebrated Explorers of Light Program and former President of PACA (Picture Archive Council of America), Roger has been pursuing his astronomically successful career in space photography for 40 years. His frequent clients have included National Geographic Magazine, Life, Time, Newsweek, People, and Rolling Stone among others, working with both the stars we see in the sky and those here on planet Earth.

Roger’s story has been the stuff of dreams, but it has also been one of overcoming adversity. As a child he aspired to be an astronaut, building model rockets and polishing telescopes. Diagnosed with diabetes at age 13, Roger defeated claims he wouldn’t make it another 20 years. Today he finds himself inspiring youngsters who share his same passion for space, guiding students every year in building and launching their own rockets. Maybe they’ll be future candidates for future space races, just like Roger is today!

Technology saved Roger’s life, and now it can also allow him to achieve his lifelong dream. Space Race 2012 will allow him to dedicate his trip to sharing the wonder and awe of space exploration. But first, we have to get Roger up there!

Your votes, yes “votes” plural, are the only way that can happen. You can vote once per day on Facebook to help Roger win the Space Race challenge. But hurry, because this really is a race! The voting period ends Sunday, March 18, so your vote each day from now until then makes every bit of difference. This is for every kid who has ever wanted to grow up and have a rocket lab in his or her basement, just like Roger does.

For Roger Ressmeyer, Space Race 2012 is about scientific progress, global compassion and hope. It also involves your votes. 5…4…3…2…1…

To vote: https://apps.facebook.com/spaceracecompetition/entries

By Chelsea Sontra

I recently attended a lecture by a notable figure in the typography industry. Never mind the distractions of a thick accent and the debonair airs he put on in his flawlessly tailored Parisian suit, the message of his talk was clear: image shows both where you’ve been and where you are going. As s typographer, obviously the focus of this idea for him has been centered on perfecting fonts and what they convey.

Admittedly, I do not come from a background in design, and so his technical jargon was of little significance to me. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but be struck by this seemingly obvious notion that what a company’s logo looks like is so much a part of their brand, if not the sole symbol of a brand or business itself. Think of this in another way. The moment a person looks at logo for the first time, they get an impression. To that person, those words, shapes, curves, lines, images and colors are the only thing they know about that company. It’s all they have to go off of, and maybe that’s all they will ever know if they don’t pursue further interaction.

Whether you are comfortable or not with the idea of being so easily represented, or even misrepresented, by a minor element in a broad schema of image-making criteria, the reality is that is business. To everyone else who doesn’t know that company, the logo is that company. So don’t sell yourself short in the design aspect of self-presentation.

At 4th Avenue Media, who we are is very clear in what we look like. We are true to who we are in the way that we have chosen and continue to visually present our company. If you hadn’t already taken a wild guess, victory is our business buzzword, what we pursue on a daily basis and the core of our personality. We don’t take image lightly, but project it boldly and mightily without reserve.

In the process of refurbishing our company this year, we are building on our past, taking those experiences with us, and utilizing and channeling them to become what we envision for our future. That’s why it makes sense for the introduction of our new logo as a 4th Avenue Media twist on the American flag. As a company we are channeling the meaning of “Old Glory”. We’ve been through the wear and tear to see the resulting rewards, growing stronger with each experience and learning from everything we do to continuously build toward greatness. There’s a lot of history behind “Old Glory,” and yet the image of her has stayed tried and true throughout the centuries. This is an image of perseverance, determination, pride and triumph.

Much of who we are is what we do, and that is displayed in our branded visual imagery. So why don’t you ask yourself, “How am I going to choose to represent my business?” There is an underlying pool of reasons that makes you, you, but only you know that. The goal is to make others acutely aware of what they should know about you before you even get the chance to tell them.