New Burnsland Graphics

Sometimes, a refreshing is necessary to keep things current. I had been using the same Burnsland logo graphic for a while, and I decided it was time for something new and fresh. The new, fresh graphics have begun to roll out,¹ so here is a look at what is new and where it all came from.

The above is a new version of the “Burnsland” wording, along with a new shape graphic, replacing the old “B in a circle” graphic that I created a long time ago. Yes, I like the handwritten look. My apologies to those of you who have difficulty reading cursive.

For the logo part, instead of just a circle, I wanted some sort of distinctive shape. While it might look like different things to different people, I consider it to be a badge. The National Park Service has an arrowhead symbol for its logo, and I decided on this inverted triangle shape for mine. The shape is actually based on something I created for our 2021 visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park:

I took the basic idea of that shape and cleaned it up a bit, rounding the corners to hopefully make it a little more appealing. It is now the basic icon for the whole Burnsland site. And it even appears at the end of each new post, too. Yes, if you look closely at the shape, it may have a few imperfections. But then don’t we all?

To follow the look of that earlier Great Smoky Mountain badge, I created badges for the two main areas of the Burnsland website.

First up was the badge for Adventures by Burnsland. After I was finished with it, I thought, “Did I really use a waterfall instead of a beach scene?” If you know of my love for beaches, you understand. But our Tennessee Waterfalls trip had been on my mind, and seeing some of those waterfalls was an adventure. So that is where the waterfall comes from. But don’t worry, beaches are not entirely out of the picture.

For the Art by Burnsland badge, I drew hands about to draw something. The pages are intentionally blank so that you can use your imagination about what will be drawn next. And there is a bit of irony there, because just about everything I draw is digital instead of pencil and paper. But hands holding an Apple Pencil and iPad just did not seem as appropriate.

At first, I thought about just having a plain background, or some artistic shapes and colors. But then I remembered the waterfall for the Adventures badge and thought, “Why not a beach background?” After all, what better place could there be to draw something than at the beach? So the beach does make an appearance after all.

For most of my drawing, I use the Procreate app on my iPad. But for these shapes, I instead used a vector drawing app to create the basic shape and the “Burnsland” writing. Vectors are nice because you can change the size without losing any detail. So I was able to make a few different variations with the solid shape with the “B” or the open shape with art and “Burnsland” at the bottom, all from the original shape. That makes consistency easier. Plus, I plan on changing things up from time to time, so I used the vector app to create the base blank shape with “Burnsland” at the bottom, and then I can import that into Procreate and draw whatever I want to fill the shape without having to try to draw the shape all over again.²

Change

Change is often good, but change is not often easy. Fortunately, in the matter of website graphics, this change is not a life-changing change, so it is relatively easy.

However, at other times, people go through changes brought on by life circumstances. Some are good, such as the birth of a child, while some are not good, such as the loss of a loved one. Other changes include job changes, children’s life changes (i.e. all the graduations happening right now), illnesses, aging, and other life events.

Some have difficulties with those changes, which is perfectly understandable. Perhaps you see someone experiencing a change that you have already dealt with. It is possible that they could benefit from what you have learned during your experience with that change.

Or perhaps you are going through a change. If so, seek out those who have been through something similar and ask them for support. Or just seek out those who love you, and they will be happy to help in whatever way they can, too.

Change is not always easy, but when we love one another, we can help each other through the difficult times.

“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” - Matthew 25:37-40

About the Artwork

There is not that much more to say about the art than what I said above. The good thing about doing these badges in a separate file was that it was easy to drop the badge into the banner that I had already created. And that way I can change them out in the future if I choose.

Also, I did not mention it above, but the vector app that I used is Linearity for iPad. I am just using the free plan for now, which is limited to 3 files, but that was enough to do what I wanted. I also use Inkscape on my desktop for vector files, and I tweaked a couple of these with that.