Long Live the Yard Bird
The Yard Bird is a symbol of the fading heart of the Twin Cities – its nest overlooks a nearly-empty shopping mall and the shell of its former namesake, the Yard Birds Shopping Center. A non-profit organization, Save the Yard Bird, has emerged to raise funds that will be used to provide repairs on the decades-old, 40-foot wooden attraction.
The main selling point for the Save the Yard Bird project is the deep nostalgia locals hold toward the now-empty Yard Birds Shopping Center, which was the heart of Centralia/Chehalis through the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I wanted to design a simple thank-you gift in exchange for a $5 donation, that could be given out at ongoing fundraisers held by the Save the Yard Bird project. The finished product evokes the clean, brightly lit interior of Yard Birds in its heyday; cheery, confident, optimistic, ready to be reborn – can a crow do that phoenix trick?
The main selling point for the Save the Yard Bird project is the deep nostalgia locals hold toward the now-empty Yard Birds Shopping Center, which was the heart of Centralia/Chehalis through the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I wanted to design a simple thank-you gift in exchange for a $5 donation, that could be given out at ongoing fundraisers held by the Save the Yard Bird project. The finished product evokes the clean, brightly lit interior of Yard Birds in its heyday; cheery, confident, optimistic, ready to be reborn – can a crow do that phoenix trick?
