Logo Forget-Me-Knots (not Knotts)

Listen, an IQ can be a mixed blessing sometimes.

Some people want it and can't get get it.

I got it and had to get rid of it.

Life's funny that way, y'know?

Barney Fife

I love Barney Fife's explanation for his academic ineptitude in one episode of the Andy Griffith Show. He explains to Andy that he made straight A's once and the teacher made a big fuss about it and the other kids hated him for it. Not wanting them to think he was a snob or an egghead, he "buckled down and got bad marks."

Maybe I can use that excuse to explain away some of my shortcomings in college. I was not the most academically committed individual on the campus. I was a bright lad – but I missed WAY too many classes (I personally blame my friend Chuck Horsman for leading me astray). But I did manage to retain quite a bit of what I learned when I decided to show up.

I remember slugging my way through a History of Letters sort of class taught by the wonderful Earl Snellenberger. When creating a logo recently, I was flashing back hard to the days of learning about Celtic Knot design. What at times seemed a bit like basket weaving with a pen has proven itself a worthy exercise many times, professionally. Being the incurable pack rat that I am, I still have my original folder with all my lettering guides and worksheets. Here's one of my original sample worksheets to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:

Over-under-over-under. It seemed tedious – and I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be doing design work for the ancient Celts in my post-collegiate career. But, as with much of design teaching, it's about the overarching concept and not the specific application.

Fast-forward over 20 years. I get a call from a client in Macau, China who is opening a new line of luxury eyewear stores. The brand needs to be culturally relevant and convey a high level of sophistication expected with a luxury brand. The name of one of the founders, Jean Scott, would be the name of the store as well.

The winning solution combined the initials J and S, woven together in a what looks to be a double figure-eight pattern. In Chinese culture, the number eight has great significance. The word for "eight" sounds like the Chinese word for "prosper" or "wealth". And doubled-up, they convey "joy" or "happiness" –even bearing a visual resemblance to characters which mean "double joy".

To understand how significant the number is to the Chinese, you may recall that the Beijing Summer Olympics started on 8/8/08 at 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8 PM (local time).

For this project, the old "over-under-over-under" was an invaluable resource to have tucked away in my gray matter. 20-some-odd years ago, doing Celtic basket-weaving with a pen led me to a design solution for a luxury eyewear brand in China. Whodathunkit?

Here's the new logo for Jean Scott to see how it all came together:

For the record, anytime you can get your brand to communicate that it brings prosperity and a double-potion of joy should be considered a successful day at the office!

But remember . . . you have to speak the same language as your audience. Even if you aren't communicating across cultures, you need to understand what things are important to them, what they need and how to communicate that you can supply it.

Just like when I was in college. Chuck knew that if he asked me to blow off class to join him for some cheesy garlic bread at Pizza Hut that I'd say "no" – until he said "I'll buy the beer". Sad, but true. He knew his audience and what (at least at that point in life) was important to them.

Thankfully though, I stood firm in my commitment to learning (such as it was) during the days of discovering the fine craft of Celtic Knotwork.

For this project, it certainly helped me "Nip it in the bud!"

Comments

[Janie]

GREAT logo & thx for the heads up about "8" as we head to the
Asian world.

So glad your knot lessons weren't for naught. I still hold dear the lovely woman who taught me to vary sentence beginnings in my writing. That handy little tip has resurfaced in many an article as I strive to keep paragraphs fresh and flowing.