32 of 365: Designing a logo for Tame the Web with Michael Stephens

Here is a final image of the workspace that I used to create the new Tame the Web (TTW) logo using Inkscape, with the help of Michael Stephens. Michael has been the heart of TTW since its inception, and wanted to have a logo to present his organization to a larger audience. He reached out on Facebook (where I get most of my work) and asked about logos on his page. He got some feedback, and in the process, Lori Reed decided to tag me, and I responded that I’d love to be involved in the logo if possible, and that I’d work for free. Michael contacted me and we began. I asked him to fill out the design brief on this site (it’s in the menu above) and when I got the response, I did this.

I tend to start logo work with the fonts. In this particular case, I used some of the information from the design brief to create a possible logo. In the brief, Michael talked about the past branding work that he had done and what had been present. He wrote that a heart symbol had always been a constant in identifying TTW. He also shared a palette, some quotes, and some clarifications in order for us to work through the logo. Michael understands brand. When he saw the image above, he said that the logo I proposed was beautiful, but that it was not the right feel. He said that it had a certain old-timey feel to it, and that he was looking for something a bit more contemporary. I understood, and decided to focus on fonts, as I usually do. He told me he liked a few of the fonts in the first submission, and I decided to focus on those.

In this revision, I took the fonts that Michael liked and tried a few subtle differences, including the pipe between elements,. the kerning, and the imagery. I never thought the whip would go very far. 🙂 I sent them to him, and he said that he loved the curve in the line, but that straight spoke to him more. He also liked the tighter kerning in some of the versions. He liked the horizontal version as well.

After he gave me feedback I focused just on the elements and kerning that he liked, and decided to incorporate the palette he had suggested, with deep blues. I grabbed one of my favorite deep blue palettes, and applied the colors to the elements. I sent it back.

But there was still the issue of the missing heart. I decided to play a bit with text and image to introduce hearts, which Michael enjoyed. We agreed that the solid blue heart worked best, and worked best ahead of the title.

Here are the final two versions of the logo, one horizontally aligned, and one block sized. I absolutely loved the opportunity, and I’m so grateful to work with someone like Michael. Even though I always have great, creative, and interesting clients, Michael was a standout.

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