To say we have a new logo, was something i didnt think i would say for quite some time, from day one i knew naming and designing a brand was going to be impossible, not just because i obsess, and get very obsessive with the design process, alignment and colours, but mostly because of word association.
When you hear the words Autism or Mental Health, you dont automatically associate it with an object, or symbol, aside from the over used jigsaw puzzle or the occasional image of a cartoon brain for mental health. Plus i would be combining the two together, to get some ideas i researched into what was online for Autism and Mental health, but to my surprise, apart from articles, blogs and journals about the topic, there are no dedicated organisations that i could find that have done anything to do with AMHA, so i quickly realised im approaching new territory which meant i had no sources for inspiration and no one to ask for advise.
It has taken almost two years to create the logo and branding of AMHA. I have spent many hours tinkering with doodles, mood boards, pinterest, and roaming around vector art. To say i considered many ideas is an understatement.
So where did it all start
Everything began with this logo below when i first came up with the name AMHA. Not my best work, but when your sat outside Tesco in the car using Windows good old Paint software on an old laptop, i was quite proud of it at the time.
I quickly came to realise this was not the logo for me, it needed to be a symbol or object which could be used for small profile boxes and app icons in the future without it looking like a long wordy Art gallery logo. It needed future proofing! So I started tinkering with lots of ideas, one of my "i know its time for bed" designs which i came up with at 3am.
After a very long line of concept logos, I quickly realised i needed help to design and build AMHA to become successful as i was becoming bog down in the detail and getting overwhelmed with anxiety and stress, concerned I would never be able to complete this project, i then discovered and began working with the lovely people at Fixers.org.uk, They helped design these concepts...
Eventually after a few tries, we came up with the light bulb logo, which many of our early followers will remember. This design is one of my favourite, however it still didnt feel right to represent Autism and Mental Health, so after alot of feedback and thought I went back to the drawing board to have another think on my own.
After a long chat with Chris from fixers, i decided to raid my old designs to see if i had missed anything. Long story short, as of last week, i finally came up with our official logo based on some designs i originally found 2 years ago using the lightbulb idea from fixers.
The main goal of the logo was not to favour Autism over Mental Health and visa versa, but still make it relatable to what we are doing and the subject area. Im not going to over explain the idea behind the logo as i think it speaks for itself with lightbulbs growing on a tree to represent thoughts, stories, ideas etc...
I hope it will become a recognisable logo which will identify my Autism and Mental Health project while not encroach upon any current branding for either used by other organisations in each specialism.
Thankyou for reading my first post in the Site Update section. Please stay tuned for more updates very soon.
Keep smiling.