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A logo request from Bali

By John McWade    November 12, 2008

I have read the book from Before & After, Graphics for Business. It’s always a good idea for me to work with design. But now, I get stuck on my head to design about “Bali Surfers” logo. Can you help me for give me ideas and sample, so that can inspiring me for make a logo? Thank you. —Fona

Hi Fona,
Tell me more about Bali Surfers. Who are they? Where are they? What do they do? Who is their audience? And so on. —John

Hi Mr. John,
Bali surfers is community of Balinese that liked surf. Balinese surfer always liked peace of mind and enjoyed surf as a beauty.

They live at any region in Bali and every weekend they have the schedule to surf and help people to learn surf in any beach in Bali.

After they surf, they will do something positive for people, like cleaning the garbage on the beach area.

Sometime the surfers from other places in Indonesia or other country want to joined, and we are welcome for them, but we must keep peace on Bali and this earth. Because when we always feeling peace of mind, anything we do will have a positive response from universe.

Mr. John that was about what I know about Bali surfers. Thanks for your help. I’m so happy. —Fona

Hi Fona,
Why do you want a logo? What will it be used for? Do you have images that you’ve thought about? —John

Hi Mr. John,
The logo use for my friend, I help them for give some advice to setup a logo. And they are not commercial community.

And I don’t have the images, I just think how to make it simple and looks interesting. Just the text “Bali Surfers” or with icon image combined with the text.

Can you help me please? Thanks.—Fona

Hi Fona,
Try this . . .


Hi Mr. John,

Thanks Mr. John for your design. It was very nice. Look simple and strong like a wave. I love it very much. You give the nice thing for it and good inspirations and idea to me to make designs.

I will try to make another and I will sent it to you and discuss with you Mr. John. Thanks for your help.

Regards, Fona

Everyone—
Some jobs, like Fona’s, are easier than others. But the logo didn’t pop out of a hat fully formed. Here’s how the pieces came together:

(Above) Although Adobe’s typeface Mojo has its roots in the psychedelic 60s, its soft forms and undulating lines have a rhythmic gentleness well-suited to the “peaceful” surfing that Fona described.

(Above) Surf waves have two components—the swell and the surface burble. The negative shapes in Mojo have plenty of burble. For now, the two words are set as one; we’ll separate them with color.

(Above) Lime and orange are citrusy, tropic-y, high-energy surf party colors. They’re a fun pick that would look great on shirts and surfboards, but they don’t pass the peaceful, laid-back requirement.

(Above) Two similar values of tropical blue say sun and surf, which lapping and sparkling in real life has a huge range of value. The very soft “edge” between words makes the setting mellow.

A gentle curve adds the wave swell that completes the logo.

For more on logo design, we recommend the following print issues . . .

This entry was posted in Question & answer and tagged Branding, Design, logo. Bookmark the permalink.
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