Elena Nessler - Logo & Visual Identity

I wanted this visual identity system to reflect who I am, what I love, and how I see the world. In the mind map I created during this process, some of the words and ideas that stood out were consciousness, awareness, seeing, love, compassion, interconnectedness, 1960s and 70s design, distorted or trippy visuals, flow/water, intention, heady, spiritual, nomadic, soulful, free, sacred geometry, organic, earthy/natural colours, high frequencies, truthful, and poetic. Starting with the wordmark, I wanted it to reflect these components, especially distortion and 1970s design. I wanted it to flow and reflect my nature, yet still feel grounded and professional. I did extensive iteration and exploration, changing direction many times. I finally landed on a design that fit: my name set in Bookman JF Pro Roman, with levels of distortion/wave, combination of stroked text and filled text, and a circle overlayed over the ‘a.’ This circle is meant to represent sunrise/sunset and/or a full moon. I feel that this design is reflective of the elements I found that closely represent my identity. It has a distinctive feel that clearly has a 1970s influence (especially set in my brand colours) but draws on more current design principles and trends to produce a more evolved look.  The concept of awareness, interconnectedness and the awakening of the third eye chakra heavily inspired my logo. I kept these concepts in mind and started sketching out ideas. It looked much different in the beginning, and I thought I might go for something with a hand-drawn look. However, as I continued to iterate I discovered that overlapping and shortening some of the existing lines I had created a shape that felt very in line with what I was trying to express. This logo is all-seeing. It flows, connects, overlaps, and unites. The dots are meant to represent vibration outward as well as alignment and wholeness. The star flare shape in the centre of the eye is an element of nature and awareness, and relates to the idea of a sparkle in the eye of the visionary, the lover, the seeker, and the knower.  I also have another typographic visual element to be incorporated as I see fit. It is a softer, modern version of an old english blackletter with the word “further” in staggered vertical placement. The sentiment “further” was on the front of the bus that Ken Kesey and the merry pranksters traveled in on their acid-fueled journey across America in the late 60s, as described in the book "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and the film “Magic Trip.” This word, to me, represents ultimate liberation and freedom from society’s constructed constraints and the desire to go deeper within yourself and outside of yourself to constantly know more and create heightened awareness. This pertains to my design philosophy as well as my life philosophy. The colours and typefaces are inspired by the 1970s–this is one of my favourite eras of design, and it is the style that I feel most accurately represents my personality. I knew immediately that I wanted the colours to be nature-inspired/earthy, warm in tone, and slightly muted yet still have a ‘pop’ against one another. As for the typefaces, for my body copy I chose ITC Avant Garde Gothic Pro–a typeface that was very popular for both display and body typography in the 70s. For my display typeface I chose Moret, which is not authentically 1970s, (in fact only created in 2019) however I am extremely drawn to it and feel that it fits nicely with the rest of the system.