New Beginnings Mental Health
JonAtkinson | Thu, 01/28/2016 - 16:11
Brief from client
Hello again, Brands of the World!
I really wasn't able to get a brief on this aside from professional and corporate looking so the concepts have been up to me thus far.
I came up with a couple of ideas and one of them was a sunrise of the mind to signify the light of a new day for someone dealing with mental health issues.
The other concept I came up with was the Roman god Janus to signify looking at, and dealing with, the past in order to look forward to the future.
I have a couple of examples if that and some alternates of the first to post below.
As always, you opinions are most welcome and respected. :)
8 Comments
Here are the alternates.
I think the sun coming out of a half skull kinda looks like exploding brains. The Roman heads aren't doing it for me either. I would really push them for a brief.
I understand where you are coming from, and I find the overall look pleasing. I would consider a caption other than "Mental Health," though. It makes me feel uneasy about the company in general. If I hadn't read cooperads's comment, I wouldn't think of an exploding brain, but now that he's brought it up, I can't unsee it. And I don't like Janus either. Other than that I find the typography and the colors finely tuned--you probably don't need the serif typefaces that you included in the alternate versions.
I think Janus heads does not reflect the idea, maybe because many people (including me) will not recognise the character.
I like your font choice and color choice.
Do you want t try Rorschach inkblots maybe?
Hey, that's an idea. Hadn't thought of the ink blots yet. One thing I did like about the Janus symbol is that the hair details look similar to a brain, which I though was kind of a cool bonus.
You are right, it does look like a brain. I did not notice that. I think if I noticed that before, I would have linked it to the idea, but without knowing that was Janus. Sorry this is the first time I hear of Janus.
The Janus heads and the profile don't quite make it for me.
Have you thought of something more abstract and less literal? The term "mental health" has pretty strong connotations, so maybe going a more abstract way with the iconography/mark could help steer away from those connotations, just like the blue shades you chose are doing.
You're in the right path, just need to explore a bit more.
+1
Speaking of negative connotations, the use of the Janus image could be construed as a reference to split personality disorder or schizophrenia. I'd avoid that kind of association in this context.
Personally I like the icon in Version 1. It implies opening up someone's head and finding rays of hope. The only thing I'd change about that is to make to the sunlight radiate symmetrically. The beams should still follow the head's contour at their ends, but they should have a common center vertex and angles.
The typography is alright, but not terribly interesting in this option. It's a pretty common font these days. I'd explore a few more options.
This is a good start though, I'd say you're on to something.