17 Sec 4 Lifeskills Camp Logo Design

I previously blogged my designs for last year's lifeskills camp, where the theme was Self-discovery. If that theme was vague, then consider this: this year's theme was 'A respected member of society'. Given that we could just casually refer to last year's camp as OBS, i found myself at a lack of ideas for how to translate "ARMOS" into a logo design... (you can't just write 'armos' and expect outsiders to understand, can you?)

Hence I relied mostly on last year's theme of GRACES for ideas. The three main motifs I drew upon were swans, lotuses and being a leader.

1. Swans, I feel, are some of the most graceful creatures around and there's a whole plethora of myths and stories about them to be explored. the challenge, therefore, was to make a swan-related logo that wasn't in the least cliched.
2. Lotuses- because when I was learning about Buddhism two years ago i discovered how lotuses are actually respected flowers or motifs in some cultures because of the way they grow. Lotuses push through the mud and bloom above the water, which is a really beautiful metaphor for rising above challenges and difficulties in life to triumph.
3. Being a leader was probably the hardest to put in a picture, but nevertheless probably more related to 'armos' than swans...

my first sketch, using the motif of a swan- on the right you can see my different ideas for composition, on how to integrate 'sec 4 lifeskills camp' into the final design. i had originally planned on using the reflection as a space for writing but decided to change that for the final design so i could draw out the swan's reflection properly.

lotus- I explored different ways of drawing the lotus and how different things could be put on (or in!) it. however, I feel that a lotus here is not a really obvious symbol for the aim of the camp, which is a pity because it's really such a beautiful flower! on reflection i could have gone for other animals instead, like peacocks, which some others used- a really majestic animal which translates really well on logos :)

being a leader- the pyramid thing kind of looks like a red carpet, doesn't it? i drew on the idea of a toilet sign (yes, really) representing an anonymous, all-woman kind of figure, someone who could represent anyone, really, and thus decided that a Nanyang girl should be more than that to be a respected member of society. Hence i drew a Nanyang girl in front with four anonymous figures behind her.

my final design. now looking back I realize I made the same mistake of not properly utilising thick lines and negative space; the contrast between black and white could have been stronger to make the design really stand out. As it is, however, I'm proud of the logo's fluidity and the curves which I tried so long to perfect!