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"You are a professional graphic designer specializing in creating festive and memorable event logos. Design a logo for "Kim's 15th Annual Christmas Song Countdown" that captures the spirit of holiday music and celebration.
Design Requirements:
- Incorporate the number 15 in a creative and prominent way
- Use a color palette that evokes Christmas (reds, greens, golds, silvers)
- Include musical elements that suggest a song countdown
- Create a design that works well in both color and black-and-white formats
- Ensure the logo is versatile for use on various media (digital, print, merchandise)
Specific Design Elements to Consider:
1. Potential Musical Symbols:
- Musical notes
- Microphone
- Sound waves
- Musical instruments (optional)
2. Christmas Motifs:
- Subtle holiday references
- Snowflakes
- Christmas ornament shapes
- Festive ribbon or banner
3. Typography:
- Font should be festive but readable
- Mix of playful and elegant typography
- Ensure "15th Annual" is clearly visible
- Highlight "Christmas Song Countdown"
Provide 2 distinct logo concepts with brief explanations of the design inspiration and symbolism behind each. Include variations showing how the logo would look in different sizes and applications."
Whew! Very thorough! And after very explicit instruction via Claude, here's what popped out of ChatGPT:
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| This was technically yesterday, but is what I envision when I hear the words "one December, bright and clear". |
2 December: Today's song is in honor of our backyard skating rink made by Gregg. He made some big upgrades from last year's (bought a giant tarp, made it bigger, changed the location) and thanks to our recent cold snap and inversion, the ice is hard and the kids have been having a blast!
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| I don't plan on including pics with every song, but I just had to show off this beauty! |
3 December: As part of our first week of Christmas School, yesterday we learned about the song Carol of the Bells (did you know it is a Ukrainian song and the original words were about a swallow bringing good news of a bountiful year to a family?). We also watched a delightful covid-era 4-H demonstration by an 11-year-old girl explaining the ins and outs of handbell ringing. (I'm linking to that because she did such a good job and we learned so much and maybe you are interested, too?) Today's version of Carol of the Bells is from Voice Male, who don't use a single bell in their music, but are most impressive musicians anyway. ;)
4 December: Children Go Where I Send Thee is one of those songs that I know well, but only because we sang it in our elementary school lunch room caroling every December. I have never heard it in a Christmas song playlist or on the radio. Have you? But when I found Peter, Paul and Mary (love them!) had a version, I knew I would include it someday. Well, today is that day.
5 December: Cal requested Silver Bells, and after playing her a couple of options, she picked this one by the Lower Lights. I love the Lower Lights. They have been an every year addition to my countdown since 2012!
6 December: Late, but not forgotten . . . today's song is from the one and only Whitney Houston. I don't think I've ever included her on a countdown, but I'm specifically doing it this year because Gregg has been on a big Whitney Houston kick as of late. I don't know why. But I'm going with it. Also, not coincidentally, tonight Cal and I are going to an interfaith gospel choir concert that a handful of my ward friends are in. This version of Joy to the World has both Whitney AND a gospel choir, so it's just the perfect combo! PLUS, just yesterday in (one of) the Advent devotionals (you can get a free copy here) I've been reading daily this season, it talked about the history of Joy to the World, and I learned a lot! Like this fun tidbit: "A beloved Christmas carol, “Joy to the World” bases its lyrics on [...] psalm [98]. Isaac Watts wrote this poem in 1719 as an answer to a challenge. He had been complaining to his father that singing the psalms in church didn’t reflect the joy of what Christians knew about Jesus, so his father challenged his son to do something about it. And he did." Joy to the World, indeed!!
7 December: Today is our fun outing with Grandma and Grandpa Blanchard to see the Nutcracker in Ogden. This year our friend, Claire, who we've seen in this production for years now, is dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy! So, in honor of all that, I bring you Duke Ellington's reimagined Sugar Rum Cherry. Can you imagine if the whole Nutcracker were jazzy? Hmmm....
8 December: My favorite Christmas song has long been Angels We Have Heard on High, but very close behind that number one spot is Go Tell It on the Mountain. Here's a Tabernacle Choir version, which I'm really happy I waited till today to share because just yesterday they finally posted a video of this song (I thought I might have to share a link from the middle of a Music and the Spoken Word). I have to admit, this isn't my all-time favorite version of Go Tell It, but it is hard not to smile when you hear the Tab Cats singing.
9 December: Okay this is totally random; my notes say it came from the Now I Know Newsletter, which I've long been subscribed to. But I honestly don't remember it. But I'm glad I had it saved because it's funny and fun and something totally different than the usual.
10 December: Here's a blast from late high school - college past: Peter Breinholt! I don't actually remember listening to any Christmas tunes by him, but this one popped up on the church music stream at some point when I was listening to it and I made a note and here it is showing up in my countdown this year!
11 December: Almost every time I ask the kids to choose a Christmas song to sing at the start of our "together time" for school, Sam picks Good King Wenceslas. The version I found for today is good ol' Bing Crosby (the same version we had on our Reader's Digest records when I was growing up), but this youtube version also has some bonuses: We Three Kings and Angels We Have Heard on High (I'm not counting those two in all my crazy spreadsheet rules - ha!)
12 December: In all my 15 years of countdowns, I've never once included Kenny G! It's high time we fix that, so today I'm sharing his version of Winter Wonderland. Classic! Reminds me of my Sax Winterlude CD, which wasn't actually Kenny G, but was lots of soprano and other great saxophone-iness. I need to break that one out again!
13 December: How about some contemporary Christian Christmas today? This one was on a playlist for Read Aloud Revival's Christmas School and it just gets stuck in my head (in a good way).
14 December: Squeaking this one in just before bed. Oops! Today's song is full of nerdy fun for me because you can follow along on the score as it plays! I still remember my saxophone part from when we played this in band. On Monday I went to the Chordettes (the local ladies choir) concert and this year they had a good-sized orchestra accompanying the singing. They played this song (but it seemed like a slightly different version - maybe easier? or maybe the orchestra version?) as one of their orchestra-only numbers and I was definitely singing along in my head as they played. Once a band geek, always a band geek, I guess. ;)
15 December: I thought for sure since the new hymn book has He is Born the Divine Christ Child now, that the Tabernacle Choir would perform it in one of their Sunday Music and the Spoken Word programs or for the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. But they haven't! Yet. But also, I'm tired of waiting, and I have other plans for next Sunday, so this organ version by a Tabernacle organist (released just a few days ago, so I was right that it was coming in some form!) will just have to do. It's such a cheery tune. I'm excited to have it added to our repertoire, even if the Tabernacle Choir hasn't performed it. Yet.
16 December: Mitch Miller and the Gang singing Jingle Bells? Yep, it sounds like Christmas from my childhood now!
17 December: Ooops! I didn't actually forget to post for the 17th, but I just never really had a chance to get to it. It was a full, fun day. Callie had her school choir performances, which were delightful. She requested this song for today in honor of one of the many, many songs they sang as part of A Christmas Portrait medley (with many speaking/acting parts! It was quite the production and they did great!).
18 December: Today I wanted something from Michael Buble, and while Blue Christmas is not my favorite ever song by him (or anyone) it is one that I haven't included yet in my countdown and, really, you can't go that wrong when he's singing! And the trumpet in the middle - wowza! That's some jazzy trumpet if I've ever heard it!
19 December: There's no youtube version of my pick for today, unfortunately, but I am just tired of waiting for it to appear! There is a free version on bandcamp, which will just have to do. I think I first heard this arrangement on the church music stream years ago and it's been patiently waiting in my spreadsheet to be shared. But like I said, it's not on youtube. And I'm finally just sharing it anyway. I love his interpretation - I feel like I'm on a camel in the desert, right there with the wise men!
20 December: This week for Christmas School we've been learning about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas Bells poem, which I'm sure you've heard in song form as I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. I had known some of the backstory of how this poem came about (his wife was burned badly and died, he was burned but lived, the civil war was raging, his son was injured in the war) but I hadn't read/heard a couple of the stanzas in the middle describing the lowest of the lows. This is why I love homeschool - it's an education for me more than anything, I think!
21 December: Today's song just sounds like Christmas to me. Good ol' Kurt Bestor. I really love the Pat-a-Pan part of this medley.
22 December: Whoops! I forgot to share my song for Sunday! We had our Christmas choir program and one of the songs we sang was this Pachelbel's First Noel mash up. This was probably the one that was stuck in my head most often during the months of practice leading up to our performance. Our version had a harp instead of bells, and we started out faster than we had ever practiced, so it was a little rushed and rocky, but we made it through.
23 December: Can't have a countdown without the Carpenters! (Well, I guess I can because I did it. Once. In 2015. What was I thinking?!) This version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town sounds so seventies and delightful. I'll be so sad when I run out of Carpenters songs to include in my countdowns. But we're a few years away from that, so it will be okay for a while yet.
24 December: One more sleep till Christmas! Today's pick is Once in Royal David's City, a song I remember singing with the Thornleys at our Nativity Nights back in the day. I discovered this version on a spotify playlist last year and I like the sound - it's a little bit like The Lower Lights, which you know I love.
25 December: Merry Christmas! My traditional Christmas Day song is Angels We Have Heard on High because it's long been my favorite Christmas song. And today we have a fun version from Mannheim Steamroller. I used to have this album on cassette tape and listened to it over and over and over all Christmas season. Sam just said, "I like this, mom!" Me too!
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2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2012 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2011 (this is for December 1st - I posted each day separately back then)
2010 (I did a countdown on facebook, but didn't post it on the ol' blog my first year, but thanks to Sarah, she's resurrected it on youtube!)
