the story behind the logo

In the mid 90s I was working with Blue Man Group a great deal. One of the more choice assignments was to create the lobby experience for the Chicago production. One day Chris Wink asked how I proposed to label the restroom doors. He did not want anything traditional and, as we always did back in those days, we consulted the McMaster-Carr Catalog. Inside we found these cool stickers for Haz-Mat disposal areas. Chris and I thought they were androgynous and amusing enough for the lobby. We affixed the large decals to the doors.

But the sticker kit also came with many smaller versions, and I decided to bring them back to my NY studio. My assistants enjoyed placing the stickers all around the studio, and one adventuresome individual started to use the image as a fax cover sheet (yes, it was that long ago). The cover sheet turned into letterhead and just took off. A few years later, I looked at it and thought it would be more accurate to turn the figure into a diver. (I like to dive.) A couple of seconds with a sharpie and whiteout and the logo was born. Various incarnations followed.