From the Mind of Trevor Stone

At the Denver Women's Chorus concert all the singers wore awareness ribbons of varying colors. Looking through the program, my thoughts immediately explored the question "What ribbon would I wear if I were in the women's chorus?" My favorite colors are iridescent blue, transparent, and reflective. (I may not be sexually queer, but I've got some pretty queer preferences.) What might a transparent ribbon stand for? Government accountability!

In an energetic mood tonight, I sat down with MacGIMP and a GNU FDL SVG black ribbon graphic. After a few hours of tinkering, I came up with a few versions I like, shown below. I'm soliciting reader feedback. Is the text clear? Are there effects I should consider? Do you like the overlay or side text better? Is the icon (above) readable? You can view this in your journal style instead of mine if you have a color scheme without a white background. (I tested the text over black, white, and several garish 16-bit colors.)

After I've incorporated feedback, I'll post the .xcf files, write a few paragraphs about why government transparency is important, and encourage its copyleft spread. Until I've had a chance to give it a first go around, though, I request that you link to this post rather than the images directly. I'll update this post and make a new one when I feel the ribbon is ready to take flight.

( The images (~160KB) )