Design Inspiration

Posted by Mary Crosby on

When I came up with the design for the Detroit Gospel graphic, I wanted to try to incorporate elements of the Detroit Gospel experience. Placing the gospel singer and the Ren Cen inside of the tambourine with the musical staff flowing through them all, seemed like an interesting way to frame the focus and represent Detroit and Gospel simultaneously.

Gospel music would not be complete without a keyboard and a base guitar, so they were the next elements added.

Finally, to re-emphasize "Detroit," the "313" area code and road sign for "Joy Rd" completed the design. Joy Rd is also a reference to the Queen of Soul (and Gospel Legend), Detroit's own, Aretha Franklin, and a lyric from her Grammy Award winning song, "Freeway of Love."

The gospel singer in the graphic is not Aretha, but is based on a photo we took of a legendary gospel singer at an outdoor concert in Detroit 10 years ago. Can you guess who it is?