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| This is the Medal Minder logo designed by the very talented Reggie Peterson. I assume he won't mind me bragging for him! |
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| This is a Medal Minder display customized for HUMR, a Utah trail running club. |
Not long ago, I was asked by Medal Minder to rework the copy on their website. When I first took this job, I was turned off by the slogan "It's ok to brag." Despite all the the posts that I've put on this blog that can easily be interpreted as bragging, I don't like the idea of bragging. If someone says to me, "It's okay to brag," my first thought is, "No, it's not."
So I rewrote everything Medal Minder had on their website. I changed the slogan to "Medal Minder: because you never know who you might inspire." I wanted to convince potential Medal Minder customers that they weren't bragging by hanging their medals on the wall, they were inspiring. They would, in fact, be doing a service to their family, friends, and everyone else that might see their medals displayed.
Even as I wrote from this new angle, I felt like I was lying. "It is too bragging!" I kept hearing a voice in the back of my mind scream, but I kept working and tried to focus on the nostalgic, sentimental aspects of medals and avoided the bragging idea entirely.
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| Some brainstorming I did in my journal as I worked on ideas for the Medal Minder copy. |
Okay, he didn't actually say it was crap. He's far too nice to do that. What he really did was very politely point out that their slogan actually rocks (because it does!) and that people really don't "brag" enough. He said there's too many of us that have these great talents and abilities and accomplish these really cool things and we never tell anyone else about them for fear of sounding like we're bragging. He did like the idea of inspiring others because that's exactly what he meant by "it's ok to brag". So he challenged me to marry the two ideas together and sent me off to write something that wasn't lame.
After I went home and pouted for awhile, I realized Reggie was absolutely right. It really is okay to work hard at developing our talents and to show off what we accomplish. And it really can inspire others. Why do we listen to that stupid voice in our head that tells us not to share our talents? It's ridiculous. Undoubtedly, there will be people who feel threatened by our talents and accomplishments and will call us braggarts or worse. Who cares? Think about all the others that see what we do and think, "Wow! That's really cool. Maybe I can do something like that, too." So the long version of the Medal Minder slogan became "It's ok to brag, because you never know who you might inspire."
You can see the rest of the copy I did for them at the Medal Minder website. If you don't mind my bragging for a moment, I'd have to say it turned out pretty darn good...thanks to Reggie!
And, without further ado, I will continue to brag, I mean, inspire by giving you page two of "Paul, Big and Small":
That mole was the reason I recognized Lilly now. It had been over eight years, but that punch in the face had lodged the exact size, shape, and location of that little mole into my seven year old mind like a handprint (or in this case a fist-print) in setting cement. That and the fact that she was black. There aren’t too many black kids where I live, so they kind of stand out. It was my first day of High School, and I was fighting the current in a crowded hall between classes. That’s no easy task when you’re only 4’ 11” and weigh 90 pounds. Almost everyone was taller than me, and everyone outweighed me. I couldn’t see where I was going because I was so much shorter than all the other students. It’s hot, humid, confusing, and very claustrophobic when you’re as short as I am and trapped in a crowd. It was like being lost in a field of corn in the middle of a wind storm and all the stalks are whipping and battering and bumping you except that these corn stalks were made up of shoulders and arms and chests and backs. I tried to cut out to the side and into a doorway where I could wait out the storm. I didn’t care what class it was or if I’d be late, I had to get out of that hall before I was trampled to death.
When I reached the doorway, I didn’t even have time to feel relieved before I looked up and saw a silver Woman’s bathroom sign. I felt stupid and tried to veer away only to be knocked to the ground by somebody’s chest. Now, I know I’m short and all, but usually my face is still taller than most people’s chests. This guy must have been well over six feet tall. I think I would have been trampled to death if he hadn’t stood over me. The crowd of students divided around him like stampeding cattle around a tree. Lying beneath the shadow of his towering form, I somehow managed not to be crushed.
“Sorry, man,” I said.
“Man?” a distinctly female voice said. A distinctly outraged female voice at that.
In my defense, I generally navigate school hallways with my head down and my eyes on the floor. It’s safer that way. No eye contact means you’re less likely to invoke a confrontation with some rabid teenager. Teenage guys are a lot like dogs that way. Teenage guys are a lot like dogs in a lot of ways, come to think of it, and I’m the runt. So, anyway, I hadn’t actually looked up at whoever I had run into. I just assumed she was a guy due to her height. Now, when I finally looked up, I saw that the lamp post-sized person standing above me was definitely a female, a black female. And that’s when I saw the mole. Even looming over me and looking down with an expression of disgust and her hands on her hips, I couldn’t help but notice she was still kind of cute. But she was huge. “Watch where you’re going, twerp,” Lily said as I struggled to get to my feet.
“Sorry,” I mumbled with my face burning and then watched as she strolled off down the hall with long, powerful legs.
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