Artists tend to be a serious bunch. When I hear “artist” the first thought that comes to mind is a hipster with a $162,000 art degree drawing characters in soy lattes while trying to explain how his misshapen pikachu foam masterpiece is somehow a metaphor for our “bourgeois society” and the evils of Capitalism.

From now on when you hear “artist” my goal – nay – my mission is to make you think of something along these lines instead:

If you also happen to learn something about art during our journey through my design process that would be pretty swell, so without further aideu let’s get back to the topic at hand – how I clickbaited you into reading my logo design process for Motoko School.

Step 1: Concept

The first step in designing a logo is to pinpoint a concept. For this step I like to do the exact opposite of what most “artists” do, although now that I’m writing this I can’t think of what the opposite of taking a cornucopia of hallucinogens is… probably reading The Bible, which I do daily and credit as my secret to creativity.

“Motoko” is a Japanese word, so “Motoko School” instantly made me think of a Torii gate, which are usually found before shrines and places of learning so conceptually it makes sense.

Step 2: Texture

I originally started with orange because that’s the traditional color of a Torii and it allowed me the most reference material, but now it’s time to make things a bit more original with some texture and a more fitting color. ICP colors are mostly blue & purple so that’s what I went with.

Step 3: Color Variation & Trimming the Fat

Purple Rain was a great song, but Purple & Orange Rain would have been even better, and that was my inspiration for changing the color. Also monotone art is boring art, if you can make multiple colors blend together (especially opposite colors) the result will be more aesthetic.

I don’t consider myself a true master of color like a certain famous artist I know, so I decided to get his help for this next part. He also told me to remove the silly top and bottom sections, and he’s the legend here – so I obliged.

Step 4: Finishing Touches & Text

For the final step I made the pattern more symmetrical, added a slight bit of shading and beveling because it was looking a bit flat, and finally rounded the edges because sharp edges are dangerous. Then I took way too long to decide on a font and here is the final result!

If you made it this far I’d like to sincerely thank you for taking the time to join me on this journey – but I won’t, instead I’ll leave you with a quote I enjoyed.

“Say something wise and your name will live forever”

– ANONYMOUS

Until next time!
– Visions