Brooklyn Flag Project Finalists Represent Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Bay Ridge & More
Brooklyn Based just announced the eight finalists for its Brooklyn Flag Project, with the talented winners depicting a wide swath of our borough – including the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene, Green-Wood Cemetery’s Gothic arch, and a view of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from Bay Ridge.
In June, Brooklyn Based partnered with UncommonGoods to launch the project, for which they asked “design-minded folks from all over the borough to create a flag reflecting their neighborhood.” After the last of the designs were submitted, a team of panelists, including Former Borough President Marty Markowitz, Tina Roth Eisenberg – the graphic designer known as Swissmiss, and UncommonGoods founder David Bolotsky, narrowed down the entries to the eight finalists.
Originally, it was planned that UncommonGoods would produce the top three designs for sale – which Brooklyn Based announced has unfortunately fallen through.
UncommonGoods awarded cash prizes to the top three winners, but decided not to produce the flags for sale after all–they told us that they had hoped to see flags from a wider variety of neighborhoods, though we thought the entries from East New York, Bay Ridge, Flatbush, Coney Island and Ditmas Park nicely rounded out the multiple flags designed for Greenpoint and Fort Greene–locales that lots of graphic designers call home. Even if you can’t buy one of these to hang from your fire escape, we think it’s worth taking a peek at the winners.
We agree it’s worth taking a peek at the eight finalists (representing Prospect Heights, Bay Ridge, Greenwood, Greenpoint, Fort Greene, Bushwick, and Williamsburg) which are all accompanied by really lovely, quirky and poignant descriptions about the neighborhoods.
Plus, we’re loving that Fort Greene was the only neighborhood to be represented twice, by finalists Wai Cheung and Jeff Lilley.
Describing the fifth-place finishing flag, Wai says:
I’ve been living in Fort Greene for the past four years and have moved around a couple of times within. No matter where I move, the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument located in Fort Greene Park has always been a central point for me. Walking home from the subway station, when I see the monument, I know I’m home.
Jeff also emphasized history and a sense of home in describing his design:
With one of the most amazing parks in New York City as its centerpiece, Fort Greene is a neighborhood of cultural diversity, beautiful brownstones, and naval history. It’s the best neighborhood in Brooklyn, and I’m pretty sure anyone who came here would quickly feel the same.
Congratulations to all of the winners!