*Sophisticated whirl of an electric in the background.* This post might be late to the party... yet here it is! This year, I attended NDEW once again in Iowa City. The morning started out a bit chilled in the sixties and then warmed up into the seventies. I arrived in my new navy-blue suit with my LEAF decked out in the solid-white seat covers I bought a few months prior. The LEAFlet I prepared for my electric was similar in objective as 2023--Q&A based rather than data overload. This year I decided to literally not cut corners because I designed the LEAFlet to be a basic rectangle with squared corners, instead of rounded.
In previous years, I tired reproducing the otherwise brilliant
Morning Sky Blue color of my LEAF to be the primary color of the LEAFlet. Well dear reader, the color is just too iconic to reproduce in Microsoft Word so I'll give my recommendation to admire the electric in person. For 2024, I decided to standardize the blue hue of the LEAFlet and choose the "light blue" color available in the standard color selection in Word. I'm using the variant when
Office 2013 - 2022 is selected as the document's color pallet. This would otherwise be RGB (0,176,240).
In 2023, I tried replicate Morning Sky Blue by using the color picker tool in Microsoft Paint on stock images of the LEAF. Good idea, but not good results. I, somehow, arrived at a color code of RGB (95,153,174) and used this in the final product. Now, while designing the LEAFlet on the computer, that color code looked... acceptable at time, however, holding the printed document next to the vehicle itself clearly says "This isn't a match, Sir." The bizarre part is that the standard light blue used for 2024 was a better match, despite not being exact. I unfortunately overwrote the 2022 LEAFlet document when I made the 2023 version because I thought I wouldn't need to consult past versions. Historically, it would have been nice to revisit since it captured a point in time of how I wanted to represent my LEAF. I'm thinking 2022 had a white background, with the content headers in blue. Rounded edges. I have these printed on 110lbs cardstock and then trim them to size myself.
Participating in NDEW opens the opportunity to receive a swag bag, which has been sponsored by Nissan over my years of attendance. The ARIYA is Nissan's current candy. 2024 entailed a Spot X Bluetooth finder, ARIYA sticker, a stick of SPF 30 sunscreen, a 100% cotton black towel (~16"x24") with the ARIYA logo stitched in the center (the material reminds me of the carpet floor mats in my LEAF), all housed within a black cross chest bag with the ARIYA logo and side view of the SUV. On behalf of the LEAF, a 2024 LEAF SV PLUS (highest trim) is less expensive starting at $36,190 than the $39,590 base of ARIYA ENGAGE. Of course, they attract different audiences... although the LEAF is the one who's locked in as being the leading environmentally-friendly affordable family vehicle. ;).
