The Story of my Logo

People often compliment my logo and ask me if I designed it myself. I always reply with a swift thanks and also tell them no, it wasn’t me who designed it but rather a gifted graphic designer who goes by the name of David Airey. Under normal circumstances, his services (which start at around $2,000) would be far above the reach of my humble wallet but a tale of luck, destiny and goats led to an opportunity to work with him.

Flashback to August 2008. I had just turned 18 and was back home in India for the summer break after having successfully completed my first year of my degree at the University of Essex. The world was my oyster and I was looking for new places to visit. As if on cue, Tharun Bhascker called me up one fine day and asked me if I would be interested in going along in a road trip with him and a bunch of other friends to Warangal. I was not the one to turn down new journeys and gladly said yes. Little did I know that the simple decision to go on this road trip would eventually lead me to a unforgettable experience.

We had tremendous fun in those couple of days, had new experiences and saw new places. I dutifully documented it all in this blog post here, creatively titling it after the two most intense things we did that day. Coincidentally, Darren Rowse was holding a contest for ‘Killer Titles’ on his blog at ProBlogger and I eagerly entered the contest, if only to raise the profile of my blog. I had entered a similar contest a year previously and it was a great experience even though I hadn’t won the prize and I didn’t expect to win the prize this time either.

But lo and behold, 4 days later I find an email in my inbox from Darren informing me that I had won the contest! The first prize was a custom designed logo made by David Airey worth $2,000 and needless to say, I was over the moon! After some quick introductions, David and I exchanged a few emails initially to work out a rough concept for the logo following which he presented to me three different variations for the logo. I immediately took a liking to the first one and asked for a few more colour variations, specifically in my favourite colour, blue. A second round of emails led me to finding what I felt was an absolutely brilliant logo from David who had designed it keeping in mind several points, including its ability to be reproduced in various sizes without loss of detail, distinct appearance even in monochrome with a stark outline that makes it recognizable even from a distance.

I was very pleased with the final output and also enjoyed working with David who was always very accommodating to my needs. Four years down the line, I have used the logo in endless places, including but not limited to a watermark for my photos, favicon for my website and on the front of my business cards. The positive comments that I still receive about the logo continue to reaffirm my belief in the fact that good talent costs good money and in the long run, a great logo is a smart investment.

So there you have it! The story of how I won a $2,000 logo custom made by David Airey after writing a blog post about a trip to Warangal!

Currently listening to – Madness by Muse