Over the years, I used a portrait photo and a landscape shot from a kayak trip as my main “brand images”. But, a while ago, I started looking at a “real logo”. Something a little abstract, but (literally?) grounded, related to path-finding, or the idea of long-term growth. And linked to the idea that IT is more like gardening (on-going), than building something (one-off).
Trigger
Then, in 2023, I joined a consortium of organisations, and it became clear I really should work on a logo. I saw myself among other logos with a black-and-white tree figure, and thought: yes, that should work.
Response
I looked at a few options, and even asked Generative AI to come up with some ideas. The tree image stuck, so I created my own abstract version. Declarative, of course, with my own code for a simple SVG image file (shown here as PNG, to make sure the font is right). See my Brand assets for various versions.
Serendipity?
Last Friday, we had a nice social get-together at Strijp-S, the literal “common ground” for our consortium. As I waited for the train home, I saw the clock on the famous Klokgebouw, and was struck by the similarity. My low-quality photo:
So… with a little more SVG-crafting, I can transform the clock to my logo, and back.
Meaning
I’d like to think that my visual approach has meaning to it.
- Trees are ecosystems in themselves. The tree is very visible, but many other species depend on it, and sometimes even live on a singular tree.
- Trees and forests are about long-term growth and resilience. Some tree species depend on wildfires to procreate, and perhaps whole tree ecosystems need to burn down from time to time.
- Tree structures are fundamental to computer science, and to reasoning.
- The round shape and dots also refer to older cables and connectivity from my younger years, like DIN plugs for audio systems and cassette decks, and AT or PS/2 plugs for a keyboard or mouse.
Each technical system is a model, and such a model contains ethical, social, and moral values. And as the saying goes: all models are wrong, but some are useful.
For me, and for now, the abstract tree is useful: as a logo.