Earlier this spring I had the remarkable opportunity to catch-up with some old friends at the MU spring football game. Mind you, these weren’t just any old friends; these guys were teammates from the 1967 MU freshman football team and we were gathering as a group for the first time in 45 years.

Below is the original team photo from 1967 followed by the reunion shot in which the photographer tried to line us up according to the original photo.

Me? I was a non-scholarship aspiring tight end in the fall of ’67 who was a little too small and way too slow to play with guys at this level of competition. Many of my teammates in this photo, however, went on to star for the Tigers and represent MU in the 1968 Gator Bowl and the 1970 Orange Bowl vs. Penn State.

These guys were great athletes and they’ve accomplished some wonderful things in life. They remain a lasting tribute to the winning tradition that we enjoy today at Mizzou. Go Tigers!

• Elegant fun: The Official Tooth Fairy Kit.

• You want music? You wanna dance? Then check out this video from The Black Keys. Don’t be surprised when you find yourself singin’ and swayin.’

• From the “Then and Now” department, here’s a look at the evolution of cereal box design since the 1940s.

• Not personal, but supremely efficient: The All-In-One Card Stamp.

• One more blast from the past: Celery flavored Jell-O. Yum.

Remember the saying “once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget”? We may have a paint-smudged example of that life lesson here in our office.

VANGEL Senior Art Director Kevin Shults attended Columbia College in the late ’70s, majoring in graphic design. There he took one painting class per semester ­– eight classes in all – taught by esteemed surrealist painter and professor Sid Larson. During Kevin’s four years at CC, he entered exactly one piece of work in one art show, and that was for a class assignment: a charcoal drawing in a 1981 Columbia Art League exhibit.

Years go by. Kevin marries, has children, and moves up the ranks as art director at VANGEL. He produces countless successful marketing campaigns. He mentors middle-school kids, judges student advertising projects and teaches college graphic design classes. He tours the country picking the mandolin with bluegrass band Midnight Flight.

But he doesn’t pick up a paintbrush.

Then in late 2011, Kevin, finding his children entering adulthood, his touring days with the band at an end, and a little extra time on his hands, decides to create an oil painting for CAL’s “Seven Deadly Sins (and the Seven Holy Virtues)” exhibit.

Apparently, not even 30 intervening years, fatherhood and an initial dearth of Winsor & Newton oils can stop a talented artist when the muses call.

The portrait, titled “Greed,” engages the eyes, toys with the mind, and has won the acclaim of the local art crowd. Among entries from 65 artists, Kevin’s oil painting was singled out for a third-place ribbon at the exhibit’s Jan. 25 reception.

Kevin and his painting have also become media darlings, featured in the Tribune for two weeks running.

How to explain his immediate success? Is it Kevin’s years of creating fabulous visual concepts at VANGEL? The training he received as a student at CC? Muscle memory? Is he an artist savant? You be the judge.

You may view Kevin’s “humorous and timely” piece at the exhibit through February 25.

Recently, our client Little Dixie Construction converted an empty factory into a state-of-the-art green building for IBM’s Delivery Center in Columbia, Mo. VANGEL was proud to create educational signage throughout the building to highlight its green design, construction and silver LEED certification.

Here’s what the site looked like before.

And here is the building after Little Dixie worked their magic.

Little Dixie and IBM tapped VANGEL to develop informational graphics to educate employees and visitors about the building’s green features.

Our first step? Dumpster diving.

In the spirit of reduce/reuse/recycle, we visited the IBM job site to scout for construction debris.

Lucky for us, our Italian intern Carlo had come along. He volunteered to scale a construction dumpster and haul out a primer-gray, 8-foot electrical door panel. His fine Italian sweater may not have survived, but he can proudly say he got his hands dirty on the job in America. (Ti ricordi, Carlo?)

Here is the metal panel.

With the basis of a cool sign in hand, we enlisted the crew at SignsNow, for a plexiglass panel we would use to tell the building’s green story. The two pieces were then joined and mounted on the wall at IBM.

Next, we needed a way to maintain awareness throughout the massive building. The solution was a series of 12” x 12” plexiglass pieces that feature 3-dimensional items illustrating the building’s green features.

Simple and intriguing, the pieces also serve as “objets d’art” at IBM. There’s nothing like a chunk of concrete, an elephant, or a beer bottle sliced in half (thank you Village Glassworks) to get people talking.

VANGEL is proud to have been a part of this innovative LEED project. Ever wondered what creative, compelling ideas could do for your office space? Try dumpster diving.

Or give VANGEL a call.