Nakita Counselling Logo and Business Card
I was asked to design a logo for an independent counsellor in London who focuses on counselling therapy and mindfulness. I always ask the question before I start any logo project “Can you describe in three words what you would like the finished logo to reflect”. I was given the words whole, professional and trust as a starting point. It was also worth bearing in mind that she integrates psychological approaches to her work by using Gestalt and Jungian theories. To describe the therapy she offers in a nutshell it works on wholeness, self awareness, reclaiming potential, confidence, power, self worth, along with deep processes about “unbecoming who you think you are and becoming who you really are”. With all this in mind it was time to research and do some initial ideas.
INITIAL IDEAS
Ideas using Gestalt and Jungian Theory Diagrams.
My initial thoughts were of the Gestalt and Jungian theories so after some research I found certain diagrams which included Jung’s psyche model on the self along with Jungs typology classification and other diagrams that represented wholeness and decided to combine them to create an icon. These logos didn’t look inviting and unless you knew about Jungian theory then it didn’t really make sense to the viewer. however I liked the idea of having a shape contained with another shape and thought this notion was worth developing into a new idea.
Idea using a pattern of a simple speech and thought bubble.
My second approach focussed on the wholeness and growth aspect. Knowing that her therapy is based face to face with client and the process is a mixture of speech and thought I wanted to combine a simplified speech bubble and thought bubble. Combining these into a circular pattern created a sense of wholeness along with creating a flower shape with individual petals to promote growth.
Idea focussing on a signature style.
My third and final initial idea was to try a signature approach to promote her individuality as its very much a one to one, face to face approach in which she works. After a couple of signature based ideas I knew it wasn’t working as wasn’t as strong as my previous idea. Using a signature logo reminded me of a make up or jewellery company so I decided to abandon that style of idea as it didn’t really suit the work she does.
DEVELOPMENT
Development on the icon.
I decided to focus on my second idea as I thought out of the three, that had lot more potential so i tried different ways to use the speech and thought bubbles. Making it too much like a flower made it look like a flower shop but using a broken speech and though bubble opened up the idea to the notion of something being broken becoming whole. I like that this reflected the type work that she did as the clients she sees are somewhat broken and in search of becoming whole again. This also meant that the flower and petal element was reduced to reflect more sense of individual growth than a flower shop.
FINAL LOGO
This development created the final icon. To finish off the logo I chose a typeface that was inviting and approachable while adding little events to reflect the style of the icon. The colour green was chosen as it was a colour that was calming, signified growth and was also a personal choice by the client which reflected her individuality. Combining all these final elements created an effective logo that was reflective of her business and herself. Professional yet approachable, Simplicity yet intricate. A business card was required as a starting point for her corporate identity along with providing a basis for a social media design.
Final design and business cards.