concept: Magen David made of stylized books .The concepts strength lies in its perfect relation to Jewish Studies In fact the symbol itself visually communicates your message(what you do) in a simple and effective way which adds a lot to the logos functionality and recognition value.
Thank you for both of these designs! We like them both quite a bit. We also like your other work as well and would love to see you play with the lettering a bit (as you do in some other contests). We like the work you've done with Hybrid Construction and with the Bait & Tackle logos as well. It's ok to make "Judaic Studies" more prominent than "Louchheim"--you could drop "school for" altogether.
We like the concept of the books making up a second image very much but are moving away from using the star of david. (Some think it is too much of an echo of the "Judaic" in our name.) Might you be interested in submitting some other images in place of the star of david? Thanks very much.
Hi, We're interested in exploring designs that reference (or imply or gesture toward) the idea of a building (as in a college/school/library). And we would like very much to see what you can do that moves away from the star but still incorporates the multi-layer meaning that your designs accomplish. Thanks-
I've been thinking about new concepts and updating my entries based on your comments... However it does not make sense to provide something less relevant and less functional than what I've already done.
In my personal and professional opinion dont see any valid reason to avoid the Star of David.Aside from religion it also contains scientific and historical symbolism.And it is also the most widely recognizable symbol of Judaism.
Imagine your logo without any text,just the symbol - what does it say? what kind of information does it provide ? what message does it communicate...is it just a school,a botanical school or a school of Judaic studies...
A logo without a sound strategy is just a pretty picture,it means nothing. It has to sum up what the business does in a smart way to have a higher recognition value.. Good logo design doesn't just create something that looks nice - it has to communicate a brand message.
''A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it means is more important than what it looks like.Paul Rand'' (logo designer legend)
Hello, Thanks very much both for your note and for your thoughtful comments. We've done a lot of thinking about symbolism before and throughout this contest. There is, unfortunately, a redundancy in having a star of David with the word "Judaic"; one or the other is enough to imply what it is that we do. Too much of an emphasis on anything religious puts the cultural, historical, and ethno-sociological elements of Jewish experience that we teach and research (which are explicitly secular in nature) into a spiritual category. We are an inclusive academic department and want to attract all kinds of students regardless of their faith or lack of faith. The tree has very strong Jewish and Judaic connotations and also references the biblical tree of knowledge.
We liked both your approach and your aesthetic and so solicited some other ideas. But we also value your integrity as a designer and understand why you are choosing not to submit anything further. Thanks again--
I do understand your point of trying to avoid too much religious symbolism.
If we refer to the biblical tree of knowledge it brings a great deal of religious symbolism itself especially being the one with the forbidden fruit .It also might be negatively interpreted because it is also the tree/fruit of spiritual death according to Genesis(please correct me if I am wrong). It may also be ambiguous whether we refer to the biblical tree of knowledge or to the tree of life.
That being said I can not define my concept as too spiritual,on the contrary - The Star of David is not necessarily viewed as a religious symbol but as a common symbol of Jewish identity(flag of Israel)while the books would provide a meaning connected to studying.
It is an interesting topic and I do enjoy this discussion.. Best regards Stickie