The New Church Logo: a designer’s perspective & analysis
As President Nelson began introducing the Church’s new symbol, it gave me a little designer anxiety. Mainly because he introduced the first of multiple concepts infused into the symbol, the first being Christ as the Cornerstone.
I thought, “Please tell me there’s more…” I wouldn’t consider this any sort of progression in terms of the church’s visual identity.
Then he introduced the full symbol. My heart felt relieved to see more thought went into a “logo” for the church than a mere rectangle around 3 lines of justified text.
Let me clarify though, President Nelson did not call it a logo. And that’s the truth, it’s not a logo in modern terms. It is a symbol. That doesn’t detract from its usefulness though.
A note–a logo only has the meaning we prescribe it. In that vein, I want to walk you through an analysis of the symbol which hopefully will give it more meaning for you.
THE ILLUSTRATION
A logo is different from an illustration
Take a look at the detail as you zoom into the Cristus statue. Notice the stippling (tiny dots), hatching (repetitive straight lines), and cross-hatching (crossing of straight lines)? Those are techniques for providing texture and shading to a form.
Does this style look familiar? Sure it does! Go look at your cash money. Look closely. It’s the same style. This style is rooted in old printmaking techniques.
This style can also be seen in what I would consider the style of logos pre 1900. Take Apple’s first logo. Sure it wasn’t from the 1800s, but the style sure was.
It uses centuries-old printmaking techniques to convey a concept. The story behind Apple’s first symbol was about discovery. It’s a picture of Isaac Newton under a tree. The apple fell from the tree and he discovered gravity. It’s a symbol for what Apple stands for–their computers are vehicles for discovering.
Take a look at Levi Strauss’s original symbol. Again, this can’t be a logo in terms of what a logo needs to be today. It’s got a pretty intricate illustration right in the middle using similar printmaking techniques. The story behind this symbol is about the strength of denim, a novel material at the time.
This style of illustration can be seen in old texts as well like the Biblia Pauperum, or The Bible of the Poor. Poor people of past centuries were often illiterate due to the lack of opportunities to be schooled. These illustrations were key to helping them understand key theological concepts.
Most books centuries ago were religious in nature because the Church was the only entity that could afford to produce books. Monks and Nuns often created copies of texts through manual processes. Part of the production of these religious texts incorporated woodblock illustrations.
In case you were wondering, here’s what that process looks like. A block of wood or carvable material would be used to etch away a relief which the ink would adhere to. Basically, where there is no ink in the illustration, that’s where the artist carved away.
The style of illustration in the new symbol helps us feel the historicity of it all. This was the style of printing when the Bible and Book of Mormon were printed.
THE MOTIF
Logos are scalable, illustrations are not
The way that brands have to represent themselves is very different today than it was even 10 years ago, much less decades ago. Today, the digital landscape requires a logo to be versatile in the number of sizes it can be displayed in.
For example, here’s the new symbol at 600 x 600 pixels. The Favicon that displays in your browser is 16 x 16 pixels. The new symbol cannot scale to that size and remain recognizable. In this sense, I don’t consider the symbol to be a logo.
Other Visual Elements
This is where supporting visual elements have already been introduced in the Church’s new branding. This theme, or motif, is conceptual. Notice these 3 apps I have on my phone, which have slightly transparent white layers at the top. Each one is slightly angled.
This represents light being added line upon line, layer up layer. The angle references the direction that light is coming from, top to bottom. From heaven to earth. Look at this rendering of Joseph Smith’s first vision as an example.
If you’ve ever mixed all colors of paint together, it turns black. When you mix all colors of light, however, you get white. We receive knowledge line upon line until we arrive at perfect brightness (or whiteness) of hope.
THE FONT (TYPOGRAPHY)
Finally, we’ve arrived at the font, the best part in my opinion. Or at least, my favorite part.
When I was studying graphic design at Brigham Young University, I had the privilege of learning from Adrian Pulfer. He helped direct the Church’s logo change that happened in 1995.
And the change was necessary. The old logo did not translate well into other languages. And we are a worldwide church. The new logo fixed that.
My professor, Adrian, shared the following with our class about the creation of that logo update.
He told us that he proposed that the Church commission a professional typographer to create a proprietary typeface. They agreed and they commissioned none other than Jonathan Hoefler. If you don’t know who he is, and I assume you don’t, he’s very well-known for his font work. For example, he was commissioned by GQ to design their proprietary typeface now released to the public under the name Gotham. You will find used in the Obama logo and campaign from 2008, the SNL Logo, and of course the GQ logo. He was also commissioned by Martha Stewart to design a proprietary typeface for her magazine now released for public purchase under the name Archer.
Hoefler was hired and proposed a design which he called Deseret, based on his own research. With modifications to the font, it was released for public purchase under the name Requiem. Here’s a little look into the inspiration for the Deseret typeface used in new church logo.
A lot of inspiration came from the Trajan typeface. Here’s a comparison:
The Trajan font was originally inspired by this column in Rome. “It is a triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars.”-wikipedia:)
Here’s a closeup of the text engraved at the base of the column. Look at that R. It’s very similar to what you see in the church logo.
Isn’t that fitting? The font that the official name of Jesus Christ is set in, is derived from the Roman empire that crucified Him. And it’s no accident that the Victory in war column it’s derived from symbolizes the victory Christ has in the war against evil.
I heard a quote years ago that I have adopted as one of my life’s axioms, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.” Branding is no different. For those that take the time, branding can be an incredibly rewarding and revelatory experience full of meaning. In reality, branding is a belief system. It’s about creating a system by which your audience can identify you and relate to you. Can your audience believe in what you are trying to say? A symbol is just a small part of that system, but an essential one nonetheless.
