Proposed Window Banners

CONCEPT - These banners would be hung from the ceiling set back about 1 or 2 feet, centered in the windows, at the front of the Baha'i Center. They would be made of a canvas-like material and professionally printed. They can be taken down easily and used for other purposes such as temporary exhibitions. Additional banners could be made at a later date and so they could be moved around and changed from time to time. They would each measure 3 feet wide by 6 feet high. The banners... 1. Use the window space to help proclaim the Baha'i Faith. 2. Boost the identity of the Center. 3. Provide some semi-privacy to the space inside without blocking out too much light or views and still allow persons outdoors to see in.

VIEWING - The banners will be viewed in two ways... 1. People passing in their cars. Because all-but-one of the windows is parallel to the street; the banners will generally be seen very briefly, all-at-once and from several yards away. Therefore, these people would not have time to read anything but one or two words printed very large if anything at all. In order to attract the attention of these people the banners should be bold and colorful. 2. People passing on foot. These people will be passing the windows slowly and occasionally stopping. They will be viewing the banners one-at-a-time from only a few feet away. These people will have time to see the photos in detail and read text.

THEME - This initial group of banners are general in theme. I suggest that in future we could also do individual banners with themes such as the central figures of the faith, unity, equality, peace, history, persecutions, etc... In order to do any justice to these topics it would probably be necessary to include a significant amount of text and multiple photographs. Therefore their appearance and layout might resemble that of a magazine style. From a distance, this won't have the visual impact that this initial set of general banners will. This type of banner would generally require a viewer to stop and spend some time reading

PHOTOS - The selected photos must be of an adequate resolution (dots per square inch) to allow them to be printed at a large scale without becoming very blurry or pixelated (the stairstep appearance of what should be smooth lines). I have heard a criticism that some of the selected photos, "won't mean anything to non-Baha'is." In my opinion that is may be true, but is not necessarily a bad thing. Why not challenge the viewer a bit and let them think, "That's beautiful, I wonder what that place is." For example, I'm sure that many people's first exposure to anything Baha'i was the wonderful temple in Wilmette. It inspires people to investigate the Faith. Having served at the World Center, I can say that the Arc and holy places also have this effect on visitors.

QUOTATIONS - For the most part; quotations from Baha'u'llah have been used. His words have special power and influence. The selections have been chosen to convey some of the spirit of His cause and teachings.

TYPOGRAPHY - I've used a font called Gill Sans Light. It has been used at a large enough size that it can be read from 6 feet away. The font is light, elegant, timeless and very easy to read. Some display fonts can look dated or become difficult to read when used in a paragraph. I think the font has a fresh, modern appearance which contrasts with the script-style fonts often seen on church or religious materials. I think this helps give us a distinctive look. At the bottom of each banner I've added a colored band which includes the words "Madison Baha'i Center" and a 9-pointed star motif. This gives the group of banners a consistancy and identity. These are done to the same design but in different colors to complement the photographs they've been used with. On the left side of the colored band, in smaller text; is a brief description of the photograph. The web address of the center could also be added to this element.

Note: Click on the images to see larger versions.