New Wayside House logo
I love to design logos. Why? Because designing a logo for an organization is both challenging and rewarding. The goal is not to design a beautiful piece of art. Anyone can do that (well almost). The goal of a logo design is to capture the essence of an organization. The logo or logotype should be quickly and easily recognizable and easy to reproduce. In my book, Graphic Design Exposed, I share a list of characteristic traits of good logo design.
Every project begins by learning as much about my client as possible. In addition to learning about the organization, I also must determine what styles the decision maker(s) prefer.
Wayside House provides women with programs that facilitate recovery from addiction. I requested a list of descriptive words. Additionally, I was told the story about the necessary struggle every butterfly must make in order to emerge healthy and strong from the cocoon. A butterfly symbol was historically used on Wayside House materials and I was asked to continue that tradition. The Wayside House tagline is “Addiction Recovery For Women By Women.”
I designed a butterfly icon that appeared to be taking flight to reflect the spirit of optimism and strength of the recovery process. To honor the “For Women By Women” portion of the tagline, the icon is constructed using two female profiles face to face. I crafted the lettering from a typestyle called “Pump” in order to eliminate all hard edges. Executive Director, Cathy Cohn and I chose the color, inspired by the blooming bougainvillea that grow on the gazebo in the Wayside House garden.
Although I focus heavily on symbolism during the development process, I rarely share those thoughts with the client. A logo choice is made at an intuitive level. Clients must be happy with the visual aspects of the logo and feel that it represents their organization.
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