master of photo framing
lifter of the left eyebrow
the diagonal tilt
the eye lids relaxed
the breathing soft
a channel of creativity
a strickland explosion
Today is the birthday of the man who designed the ubiquitous “Smiley Face,” Harvey Ball, born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1921.
He was co-owner of an advertising and public relations firm in Worcester in 1963, and when two insurance companies went through an unfriendly merger, he was hired to create a “friendliness campaign” to ease tensions between resentful workers. He thought of the color yellow, which is cheerful, and drew a circle with a smiling mouth inside. That wouldn’t do, though, because if you looked at it upside down, it looked like a frown; he added eyes and the Smiley was born. “There are two ways to go about it,” he told the Associated Press. “You can take a compass and draw a perfect circle and make two perfect eyes as neat as can be. Or you can do it freehand and have some fun with it. Like I did. Give it character.”
He was paid $45 for the design, and the first order was for 100 buttons. Within just a few months, they were selling by the millions. He never tried to copyright the design or expressed any regrets over not getting a cut of the profits, according to his son. “He wasn’t a money-driven guy. He used to say, ‘Hey, I can only eat one steak at a time.'”
(I’m not money driven either.)
The Vibrant Channeled Creator 