Positively 6th Street Logo
Positively Sixth Street Graphics
"Positively 6th Street" was designed specifically for the people who live in the Sixth Street corridor, a large proportion of who are poor and in need of everything from food to services of all kinds, which we provided free of charge. We made it a day of celebrating community togetherness by, among other things, providing live music of all kinds from some of the Bay Area's best bands. For five years, it was my privilege to be a part of the Positively 6th Street Annual Community Fair.
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I recently saw the flyer for the 2009 fair—not a poster, just a black and white, 8.5" x 11" flyer that looks like . . . absolutely nothing: no identity, no color; laid out like a monolithic corporate advertisement to which no one will pay any attention; churned out by someone with no imagination and no stake in the community—all of this underscoring the sad demise of what, for a few bright and glorious moments, was a shining example of community cohesion and culture.
Note that the fair's logo has been castrated to better match the flier's banality.
And now, a week from the event's already rescheduled date, I've learned that the Eighth Annual Positively Sixth Street Fair has been canceled. The same person who decided that the fair's graphic identity was no longer important apparently also thought it was unimportant to get permits and insurance. Whether or not the fair will ever be revived remains to be seen, but its future appears dim. I am proud to say that, for five of the seven years that Positively Sixth Street was successfully produced, I worked to create a more positive image for the community and had the pleasure of helping to give the people of Sixth Street a measure of happiness. It was a transformative experience for the entire community, and sadly it is the community that is hurt most by its passing.
Positively Sixth Street graphics are copyright © 2004 – 2008, Mark Ellinger