Overview

Personal logo project involving personal identity exploration, which resulted in a logo used on my personal website and branding.

Goal

The idea originated from a personal poem I wrote, which serves as the introduction to my archive. This poem reflects a philosophy I believe in, and for that reason, the idea of representing it symbolically made sense.

You can use the most expensive pottery,
To store the rice within.
Just remember—it is the rice that gives the human life.

The goal is to design a logo that reflects my philosophy and makes me and my work recognizable.

Process

I decided first where the logo will be used, which is my website, as my watermark, and other self-branding purposes.

From there, I collected inspiration from rice pots and storage containers. I searched the internet and created a mood board on Are.na. Eventually selecting three main inspirations, which I used for the first sketching session.

The overall process was quite structured, for which I followed a four-part process: sketching, symbol abstraction, vectorization & refining, and visibility testing. After each iteration I assessed the end result by judging its visibility, recognizability and character. If I wasn't satisfied, I would list my remarks and point out room for improvements.

It took me three iterations until I reached a sensible and satisfying result, which I called the "0.75 version". This logo is the version currently in use.

Results

The result of the project:

• Favicon for website (.ico)
• Self-branding element(.svg or .jpeg)
• Watermark for my work (.png)
• A work file for future updates

Now I am able to stamp and brand my work visually. This is something I'd normally express using one-tag taglines or typography as the logo.

More material available here →

Reflection

As this project mostly improved my crafting skills, I learned a lot about turning meaning and inspiration into visual abstraction. This time I was able to communicate meaning and self-identity using visual symbolism.

The building process taught me how to create a readable logo, and to take into account balancing line weight and proportions. Metaphorically speaking, sculpting my way to a legible and satisfying design.