Animal Writings

Every group needs a logo, right? Deciding what it should look like was even tougher than coming up with a name. We agreed on some general principles. We wanted to convey human compassion, since our outreach was to humans. There are lots of logos out there already with pawprints, so we decided to have a representation of a whole animal. On the advisement of people who know a lot more about graphics than me, we knew that we had to keep the logo uncomplicated. We also realized that it was impossible to express everything we were about in one simple graphic.

A friend of mine who's an excellent professional graphics designer came up with some drafts, which helped us refine our ideas. We then turned to another friend and fellow animal rights advocate who also does professional graphics and who is a member of the Humane League of Baltimore (an exceptional grassroots animal advocacy group); she produced additional drafts, based on the first set and our comments (which I'm sure were annoyingly vague and probably filled with contradictions). We're converging on something like this:



The above rendition is based on a proof sheet, so it's a bit rough, and we're still playing with different color combinations, but this is likely very close to our final logo. We'll also have a version of the logo where the name of the group is on one line, which will fit better in short but wide spaces such as the top of our web site pages.

I like the use of a chick as the symbol for all animals. A baby chick is full of life and wonder, and nearly everyone who sees a chick feels some tenderness and empathy for this creature, yet chickens are the most abused animals on the planet. A single chick is so small, yet is a complete and complex individual who experiences the world, and who may thrive or suffer based on our actions. I'm reminded of the William Blake poem:

To see a world in a grain of sand
And heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

Labels: Compassion for Animals, Humane League of Baltimore, William Blake