The three worst helmet logos are rather obvious. Helmet logos with letters are boring and unimaginative. Two are from Gotham.

Here was the criteria for the best NFL Helmet Logos. The criteria for the worst is just the opposite.

1. Image only. Logos that have letters or initials are unimaginative. A good logo is iconic.
2. Artistic interpretation of the mascot.
3. Uniqueness – A helmet treatment that conveys the mascot in a novel way.
4. Local or regional meaning. A logo that drawings on the local culture and is incorporated into the image gets extra credit.

The New York Jets helmet is the worst in the NFL. Why? It is busy, full of letter, the NY is barely discernable, the football icon is small and primitive. If you have to type the name and the nickname of your team on the helmet, you lack imagination. They can do better.

Ahh, the New York Giants logo. Big city, nickname Giants - and they use small letters? The use of letters alone is silly. But, this helmet logo makes no sense and does not say anything about the about anything.

The Tennessee Titans has more going for than just letters, but it has nothing do with Tennessee. It has a “T” with some comet motif and three stars. It just seems contrived. It just a bad design and a bad nickname.

Did you ever notice that Foursquare badges look a lot like mikon stickers? Checkout mikonmixers.com

Nevertheless, Mashable just posted Top 16 Unusual Foursquare Badges . Some of these are pretty cool.

 Make your own badges that symbolize where you have been at Mikons.com. You can make them at Mikons, get strickers printed, and share them with your friends.

 Sometimes I am out and about and I will see Mikon stickers and badges on laptops. Most people get their Mikons stickers from conferences like Oracle World, MacWorld, or SXSW. You can make your own set Mikon stickers for your events at MikonMixers.com.

My parents, my wife, and I were traveling through the sparse Southern Montana landscape. We were driving through the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and I kept noticing this symbol. It is the tribal symbols of the Northern Cheyenne Native Americans.

The present day flag of Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Southern Montana is emblem of Chief Morning Star, better known as Dull Knife, the Cheyenne chief who led his people to their new home after they had been defeated in the War of the Plains. The morning star glyph was also used during the Sun Dance. Warriors would paint it on their chests for the ceremony.  The ancient version was a deep reddish brown, and a black morning star glyph.

Make your own symbols and make new friends at Mikons.com.

I saw this logo while riding my mountain bike crossing some railroad tracks in Northern Idaho – The Great Northern Railroad. It is a great image representing of the feat that Railroad Companies had to overcome laying track across the Northern Rockies. Although the use of animals is common among logo creators, few use the Rocky Mountain Mountain Goat.

Consider the ubiquity of animals like lions, bulls, and eagles in logos. They certainly share a common meaning with us all. But the risk that companies take when using animal representations in logos is that they compromise uniqueness in branding.  Other companies selling bicycles and outdoor apparel have used the mountain goat image, but none are as strong the Great Northern Railway logo.

Last week I ran the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon in Seattle. The finish line was at Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. These symbols are at the North end of the Staduim. 

I looked them up and found this at the Qwest Field website:

Bob Haozous’ installation on the stadium’s North Tower is assembled from four 24-foot-diameter painted steel discs. Although inspired by symbols that are part of his Warm Springs/Chiricahua Apache heritage, Haozous believes that the forms and colors of the artwork have universal meanings.

Specifically, the artwork is intended as a constant reminder of our deep connection to the earth. According to Haozous, the lowest disc, depicting a stylized cityscape, represents our contemporary, man-made world. The green disc above it symbolizes life and growth, but its human figures are flying away, suggesting the loss of man’s direct tie to nature, or in a more hopeful reading, a return to those ties. The third disc honors the sun, highlighting our dependence on the natural world and the redemptive powers of nature. The top disc is a collection of man-made clouds, meant to suggest the immensity of the natural environment.

Bob Haozous is attempting to connect us with our environment and one another. What I love of about Icons and Symbols and the people who create them is that the creators are putting themselves out there. Creators of these symbols are courageous people.

Make your own icons and symbols at www.mikons.com.

CNN posted an interesting collection and discussion of Christian and Jewish cemetary headstones. Tombstone Symbolism.

Read the comments below on the post and you will see the silly discussion about what God does and doesn’t do from both foolish “believers” and non-believers. It always strikes me as odd that since we people cannot be God, we want to own God and pretend to know all about God.  The CNN post title got it right, ”What Headstones Say About the Living”

Make a Mikon and make a Symbol that says something about You!

Who is your Inunnguaq? The Icon of Hope is a Gift of Gratitude for someone who has helped you on our journey.

The Inuit people of Northern Canada build stone structures to point the way across desolate tundra and ice. Sometimes built in the shape of a man, they are called Inunnguaq. These stone sentinels can save a life on the harsh, frozen landscape where few survive alone.

These stones are called INUNNGUAQ (pronounced EEN-NON-WOK). They are  used by the Inuit people of the icy tundra of  Northern Canada. Stacked stones “in the shape  of a man” – the meaning of Inunnguaq – are a landmark and survival guide for travelers on a journey.

They are placed from one horizon to the next.  The Inuit erect these stones out of love for fellow travelers – people they may never know.  They say, “You are on the right path…you arenot alone.

Express your appreciation to that person who has shown you the way.

Join the movement. Share the Icon of Hope. Let there be 1,000,000 Icons of Hope in the World.

Yes, I LOVE Basketball.  My dad was a basketball coach. I love the headiness of the game. Basketball is a sport where game knowledge, savvy, and scrapiness will trump talent. I am not an raw athlete – I can’t jump and I’m skinny. When I walk on the court with a bunch of other players who don’t know my game I barely get a look. I know the fundamentals and I am a disciplined player. My wife will say I am very aggressive; I say that I just play hard. I give a crap. I don’t like being a lazy player.

Over the years I have come to enjoy that kind of “disrepect” because I often flip it into being the go-to guy. Many aspects of life are like that. People judge the outside because they can’t calibrate the head and the heart. You gotta be in the game before they know the real you.

Knowledge, fundamentals, discipline, and effort. That is a great recipe for success. However, you don’t gain knowledge unless you play the game.  You don’t perfect the fundamentals unless you play the game. Discipline and effort are not exercised until you are in the game.  If you are serious about what you want to do with your life then GET IN THE GAME and give it everything you have. Then someday you might be a champion.

Go Butler!

Make a symbol about something you love at Mikons.com. Then share with others how your love made you a champion.