He did, and he won.

 “It was one of those rare moments that it just came to me,” Novak said. “I was trying to get an old circus-type feel.”

He put six to eight hours into the design, with a large flowing “20,” banner underneath and balloons in the background.

Originally from Bath, Novak and his wife moved to Lewiston a few years ago for the affordable housing.

Now, he’s off — first up in the air, then, on to his next design adventure.

Name: Jonathan Novak

Age: 24

What goes into a winning logo? I guess you would have to ask the judging committee. As far as what goes into a piece, it’s all about problem solving. Once you get an idea, you explore it to see if it will even work. If it does work and you like it, at that point it’s about making it look good and working out all the details. Basically, it’s about staying true to your vision.

Ever been up in a balloon? No, but I want to. The prize for winning the contest is a free ride this summer at the festival. I’m really looking forward to it.

As a designer, what’s been your favorite project to work on so far? I think it would be a logo design that I did for Captive Elements Art House, an art gallery in downtown Lewiston. Kerry Landry, one of the gallery’s owners, and I have been working together for a few months now. One night we were talking about logos and decided to explore rebranding the gallery. The thing that I liked about it was that it was really organic. I also liked that it was so broad in the process that went into it. It started as a hand-cut stencil spray painted onto a wall. I then photographed it and finalized it on the computer. It was a lot of fun.

First thing you ever designed for someone else: Yikes. I guess the first thing that one could say I “designed” was a Christmas card that I made for my best friend and his wife maybe five years ago.

You’re headed to the Maine College of Art. Excited? Very excited. It’s such a great opportunity. I’m excited to meet all of the professors and peers that I’m going to be able to work with. Just to be in an environment like that, I’m very grateful to be there.

Top three anticipated highlights of summer: Riding in a balloon, for one. Also check out the Art Walks (in downtown Lewiston); they’re at the end of every month and they are a blast. My wife and I are moving to Portland to be closer to school — we are very excited for that and being closer to the ocean. There are a lot of great people here who we will be sad to be away from, but I’m excited for making the most of the rest of the summer with them.

Any anticipated low-lights? Definitely leaving all the people here. We’ll miss being here.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

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