Florence designer wins Rhody logo contest again
FLORENCE — Graphic designer
Susan Johnson recently won the Florence
Area
Chamber
of
Commerce
Rhododendron Festival logo design con-
test for the third-straight year.
The theme for the 2015 event is “Let’s
Rock ’n’ Rhody.”
Johnson’s design incorporates a ’50s
diner motif with a blue Fender
Stratocaster, music notes and the requi-
site pink rhododendron blooms. Johnson
also won in 2013 for “Come See What
We See” and in 2014 for “Not Our First
Rhody-O.”
She won first in 2006 with her entry
“The Best is Yet to Come”, and designed
the logo for last year’s Dunes City
Triathlon.
Later this year, Johnson’s work will be
seen in the Chamber’s downtown revital-
ization team's banner design. The ban-
ners will hang from streetlight poles
along Highway 101 between the Siuslaw
River Bridge and Highway 126, and in
several places leading into Old Town.
The banner program is the first in a
series of projects designed to create an
eye-catching first impression for travel-
ers and encourage them to stop and stay
in Florence.
Johnson says she’s honored to con-
tribute to the community's visual history
and looks forward to participating in
COURTESY PHOTOS
Florence graphic designer Susan Johnson (above) produceed an award-
winning logo design for this year’s Rhododendron Festival.
future contests that could raise the
region’s profile and enhance its business
environment.
Johnson prefers the appellation of
“design intuitive” over graphic designer,
and calls herself a reformed corporate
workaholic. She thoroughly enjoys the
freedom of setting her own standards of
“wow” while taking pride and pleasure in
creating art that works for her clients.
Johnson moved to Florence in 2002 to
take care of her ailing mother, but she
stayed for the many obvious quality-of-
life benefits. She works with a number of
local businesses such as The Shippin’
Shack, Wellspring Clinic, SEAcoast
Entertainment and Coastal Property
Management, but has a large portfolio of
work she’s designed for clients across the
world and is currently welcoming new
clients.
Her many talents include photography,
website design, book covers, and retail
packaging, but are not limited to strictly
business designs.
Johnson also does invitations, birth
announcements and event posters.
Clients say Susan has an abiding pas-
Show your love of books at library book sale
FLORENCE — In the spirit of
Valentine’s Day, the community is invited
to show its love for the Siuslaw Public
Library by attending its book sale,
Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 7 and 8, from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, in the
Bromley Room at the main branch of the
library, 1460 Ninth St.
As a sweet treat for Friends of the
Library, a special VIP preview sale will be
open from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Saturday, for
Friends members only.
Coffee, juice and a continental break-
fast will be provided, along with door
prizes and first dibs on thousands of
books. This preview event is a small thank
you to the Friends for their support of the
library all year long. Memberships start at
$10 per calendar year and will be avail-
able at the door, or can be purchased in
advance at the library.
This two-day book sale is a great
opportunity to stock up on winter reading
10 • C OAST
material-at bargain prices.
“We have thousands of hardcover
books selling for only a dollar, pocket
paperbacks are only 50 cents,” said
Sherry Curran, president of the Library
Friends. “The book sale is the perfect time
for readers to fill their bookshelves with-
out spending a lot of money.”
The popular $2-per-bag sale will run
for the last hour of the sale on Sunday,
from 3 to 4 p.m. Credit and debit cards are
accepted, along with cash and checks. All
proceeds go to support the Siuslaw
Library and its programs.
Friends volunteers have been hard at
work sorting fiction and nonfiction books,
along with magazines, DVDs, CDs, and
even VHS tapes for the big sale. All types
of fiction will be for sale, grouped alpha-
betically by author’s last name, along with
a huge variety of nonfiction including
biography, history, cookbooks, sports,
nature, spirituality and travel.
C ENTRAL • Arts & Entertainment • FEBRUARY 2015
Reusable canvas book bags, featuring
whimsical book art by a local artist, can
also be purchased at the sale and filled
with books. New books are put out
throughout the sale; shop early and shop
often.
“The Library Friends are amazing,”
said Meg Spencer, library director. “We
could not offer all of the programs that we
do without the Friends’ help. Plus, they
are our biggest fans. They act as ambassa-
dors for the library throughout the com-
munity.”
Book sales are one of the Friends’ pri-
mary fundraisers. By purchasing books,
shoppers help to support the libraries in
both Mapleton and Florence.
Anyone having books to be donated for
this or future sales may bring them to the
library at any time.
For
more
information,
email
SiuslawLibraryFriends@gmail.com or
call 541-997-3132.
sion for what she does, and by combining
her unique intuition and creative vision,
she strives to become their invaluable
partner for success.
“Working with Susan has taken the
advertising stress for our company and
reduced it to zero,” says Barry
Nivilinszky, owner of Coastal Property
Management. “Over the last four years
Susan has been very responsive to our
needs regarding the wide variety of
advertising that we do for property man-
agement. She thinks outside the box
when it comes to design and that is real-
ly refreshing.
“Our business continues to expand and
Susan is an integral part in defining the
image and presence of our company.”
“Susan is a delight to work with, a real
pro. She is truly committed to creating
designs her clients love. She took my
simple sketch and brought it to life, then
offered several other imaginative ver-
sions from which we combined the win-
ning elements,” says Scott Steward of
Creative Wave Marketing Solutions in
Florence, her collaborator on the 2013
Rhody Fest logo.
When she’s not in her office, you
might find her working in the yard, at the
beach, curled up with a good book or
exploring Oregon’s great outdoors, dogs
in tow and camera in hand.
FRAA offers
Zentangle art demo
FLORENCE — Come learn about the
intriguing drawing technique of
Zentangle at a free demonstration on
Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m., at the
Florence Regional Arts Alliance
(FRAA), presented by Rosie Hill, certi-
fied Zentangle teacher and new artist in
residence at FRAA.
Zentangle is an easy-to-learn approach
to drawing based on repetitive patterns
and resulting in a beautiful abstract
image. An Introduction to Zentangle
class is scheduled for Feb. 12, at 1 p.m.,
at FRAA, 4969 Highway 101, Munsel
Lake Plaza No. 4.
On Thursday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m., a
class on shading techniques, “The Shady
Side of Zentangle,” will be offered.
For more information, call 541-997-
5388 or email Rosie Hill at
reallyrosie@centurylink.net.