It's challenging to capture the spirit of a business district so diverse it's hard to define, but San Jose graphic designer Theo Mendoza has done it with a daring latest logo for East Village, the redesign of San Jose's East Santa Clara Street business district.
The latest logo was unveiled Tuesday morning during a small celebration in front of the mural outside the Vegan Bistro and Deli on the corner of North tenth and Santa Clara Streets. The East Village logo has a nostalgic vibe to it—to me, it seems like something from the early '70s—and that's more fun than you'd expect from a industrial district.
At first, Mendoza thought the emblem needed to be more structured because it represented a industrial district, but after speaking with the merchants within the neighborhood, he realized they didn't want something sleek and one-size-fits-all.
“I took a step back and realized we were building a corporate association as a brand that catered to this community that wanted to feel safe and connect with each other,” said Mendoza, who was born and raised in San Jose. “We wanted them to buy into it, be proud of it and then feel comfortable being who they are and what they contribute.”
The letters of the emblem are a mishmash of fonts, uppercase and lowercase. Sixteen green leaves within the upper corner represent the 16 blocks that the district encompasses along East Santa Clara Street from Seventh to twenty second Street. The letters “SJ” encased in a red brick in the other corner represent the retail stores that line the district.
During his month-long design process, Mendoza spoke with the neighborhood's merchants—many East Village restaurants and shops are owned by Vietnamese, black, Latino, Cambodian, Korean or Chinese entrepreneurs—and what he heard from them led him away from the stylized and toward something family-friendly and light-weight that also authentically represented the companies.
“Because I gathered all this information and addressed it in a way that we both understood what the goal was, it was no surprise when I showed it to them,” he said.
Caleb Orozco, owner of the Last Round Tavern and vp of the business association, said he appreciated Mendoza's collaborative process and questions that helped discover the interests of the merchants.
“He did a fantastic job. It's fun, it's whimsical, it's colorful – but at the same time it's serious,” Orozco said. “It represents the growth and prosperity that can happen here in the East Village.”
POETRY SPEAKS: The mighty Mike McGee says this 12 months's tenth annual San Jose Poetry Festival, which begins Thursday and runs through the weekend, has a program that focuses on spoken word poetry.
The opening event at First Unitarian Church (160 N. Third St.) begins at 7 p.m. and can feature Jason Bayani, Jamie DeWolf, Wonder Dave and Lorenz Dumuk. There might be special performances each evening, in addition to workshops and a number of other daytime events, each in person and streamed online, with additional presenters including Bao Phi, Rachel McKibbens, Arlene Biala, Sally Ashton and Tshaka Campbell.
Saturday night's event on the San Jose Jazz Break Room on South First Street will feature a performance by Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Yosimar Reyes, in addition to a chance to satisfy the county's newly named Youth Poet Laureate and Youth Ambassadors.
Speaking of youth, a convention coming back from last 12 months's festival is that each one performances are free for anyone under 19. Everyone else should buy a festival pass for $50 or pay for individual events on the door. For more information and the complete schedule, visit the Poetry Center San Jose website. www.pcsj.org.
STANFORD GOES NOIR: The Stanford Theater in downtown Palo Alto opens a two-month film noir festival on Friday with two classics of the dark and atmospheric genre starring Humphrey Bogart: “The Dead Sleep Tight” and “The Maltese Falcon.”
This double bill runs through Sunday, and other upcoming classics you won't need to miss include The Woman Without a Conscience (September 14-15), Sunset Boulevard and the unique Nightmare Alley (September 28-29), The Third Man and Key Largo (October 5-6), The Sign of Evil (November 2-3) and 1946's The Postman Always Rings Twice (November 9-10).
The full schedule will be found at www.stanfordtheatre.org.
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