UPDATE: New Symbol For The South?

ArtandSeek.net October 13, 2015 46

A few weeks ago, we told you that “Studio 360,” the weekly arts program, issued a challenge to Dallas design firm 70kft: Reimagine a flag for the South that is more inclusive than the Confederate Flag. KERA’s Lauren Silverman spent some time with the two teams competing to come up with the best idea. Well, the results are in. Here’s the design that 70kft proposes:

Studio360_redesign_flagchallenge_70kft5_SOXo2ht

A new flag for the South, proposed by Dallas design firm 70kft.

Why go with something abstract? Stefan Reddick of 70kft tells Studio360’s Kurt Anderson:

We went through several hundred different symbols that could potentially represent the South — everything from magnolia trees to pecan pie, anything and everything. That’s great for one small group, but is that telling the full story of everyone in the South? We didn’t want a mythical idea about what the South used to be, we wanted to look forward to the future.

Team Quilt v. Team Rebel

As Silverman reported, 70kft divided into 2 teams, Quilt and Rebel, to generate ideas. Team Quilt was exploring traditional symbols of coming together – tapestries, stained glass. Bailey Parkerson explained:

“We’re kind of getting away from the flag in general, looking for a symbol that embodies the modern South. Flags are for battles and quilts are for homes.”

Team Rebel’s idea: Use the word “rebel,” in the handwriting of rebels like Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks.

While Team Quilt technically won out, both sides ideas are incorporated into 70kft’s presentation, Reddick told Studio 360:

We realized that the quilt worked best for the identity perspective, and the rebel theme became a great advertising moment. So the quilt informs the symbol most directly, but that rebel attitude is still a big part of our design treatment.