Logo Design: Philippine Physical Therapy Association 2008 Logo Contest

In celebration of the 10th National Physical Therapy Day last September 8, 2008, the Philippine Physical Therapy Association (PPTA) held a logo-making contest to promote awareness among PT students and professionals about the current and evolving practice of the Physical therapy profession in the Philippines. I really wasn't intending to join this contest because of numerous creative projects I'm currently involved in but as the deadline drew near I thought, "Oh well, I better create something as well, for old time's sake…" That's the reason why I told in my previous blog that somehow I wished I spent more time in creating this logo. But as other designers have shared, it's not the time spent on creating the logo that counts but the over-all impact it produces.

I said old-time's sake… and I really do mean old-time. I've been creating artwork for the PPTA ever since I became a member, ranging from conference logos, lay-out design, audio-visual presentations and even the first inception of the website. Below, you will see the original logo of the PPTA (not mine), and 2 conference logos I made (I have 2 others, but for some reason, I could no longer find them in my files) and an updated version of the original logo (I wonder why they stuck with the old logo).

PPTA Logo

Here it is, the winning logo of the PPTA 2008 Logo Contest:

"This logo retains the hand symbolisms of the original logo, representing the essential service-oriented theme of the Physical Therapy profession. In this rendition, the hands are arranged, open representing evolution of the practice; and emanating influence around the world (represented through the globe, another symbol retained from the original), which is the role Filipino therapists will take in the world scene. Within each hand and shape are embedded subtle symbolisms of the various fields and niches of the Philippine PT practice – pediatric, geriatric, sports (light green area - people), orthopedic/musculoskeletal (dark green area – spine symbol), neurologic, musuloskeletal (red hand – EMG, ECG signals), academics, clinical teaching, paramedical, pulmonary, etc… (blue hand – caduceus, with human figure, book)… The logo is arranged into a modern and eye-catching mark which can be presented in various formats and color schemes, ideal for many applications of this mark."

I wasn't really expecting this to win, but I enjoy good news, especially unexpected ones. I'm not sure if the PPTA will choose to replace the old logo with this new one, but somehow I feel I needed to work on this more (I still feel, this is not as distinct and compact as the original logo). But all in all, I'm glad this work was chosen (still creatively in service to the PT profession!).

Logo Design: Akande Music and Publishing

Akande Inc. is a 12-year old company that has been immersed in artist development, songwriting & song production. Akande Inc. has most recently decided to include publishing to its list of services. With a publishing campaign slated to begin Summer 2008, Akande Inc. is developing a diverse catalog of songs targeted towards the following industries: Movies, Advertising/Marketing, Television and Gaming. Aside from continually looking for unique individuals to help maintain an interesting and diverse sound within their catalog and extending their genre (Hip Hop, R&B, Pop, Rock and Folk Pop) to also include Metal, Dance and Children's Music. In line with their ongoing expansion, they would also like to spruce up the logo they currently have... something that would ultimately sit well on a website, t-shirt and business card.

Here is their original logo, which is actually a guitar tablature with the A chord. The red dots match the color of the A in the text.

The logo is a very distinct one, and although they were open to significant modifications of the logo, I thought that drastically deviating from their branded image will be detrimental to their planned expansion. Here are versions showing a more dynamic representation of the tablature and text.

Thinking that the slanted 3d-fied version of the tablature looks slightly unbalanced (doesn't work well as an icon), so here are versions where the tablature forms the negative space in a distinct iconic shape.

And in versions in horizontal arrangement and "just the dots" configuration in a font similar to the original one.

Ultimately choosing my original icon proposal, but fine-tuning the size of the dots.

Looks good as black and white versions and a mock-up proposal of their website (how the logo will be used in the website).

Tristeza…

Imagine being interviewed by GMA7 Emergency and you can't keep your head focused because you just realized something heartbreaking. Normally, I would be excited to watch my own TV debut but somehow I consciously tried to avoid watching it. And my friends who were able to watch the episode tell me that the network got my name wrong.

Then I review my notes for Watsu for an upcoming convention lecture and I wish to myself: "I wish someone would Watsu me…" suddenly realizing that I've given countless selfless hours of soul-enriching Watsu to others. I am a giver by nature, and somehow I find purpose in sharing and being needed. It's quite puzzling why I feel uncomfortable in receiving… perhaps somehow I feel unworthy.

I drove last Sunday to the PPTA convention for my lecture and I had the Eraserheads on my mp3 player plugged in. And when the song "Overdrive" played, I felt a profound emptiness… suddenly the song has lost its meaning… now that I know how to drive… and I suddenly remember the reason why I decided to learn how to drive. And the song "With A Smile" plays and it too has somehow lost its flavor. Suddenly the engine of the car sounded weird and after pulling over to check, I see that the muffler had collapsed and had been dragging along the road. Good thing I was already near the convention place, and dragged the muffler for at least 4 more kilometers. I then hired some boys to fix it up. Lecture went well but somehow I felt I needed more time (missed some points to discuss) but I ended up with some of the attendees feeling like they were Watsued already themselves. I guess my HeartMath practice worked. So nice to see familiar faces… friends, CAMPers, students (previous, now colleagues!)…

Left as soon as I finished the lecture, drove to Greenbelt to buy some heavy watercolor papers for an upcoming project ("Spinning!") and ink for my Raisinhead comics, and a fine brush that I need for an oil painting ("Puno ng Pangarap") I have yet to finish. I get text messages telling me my logo design for PPTA was chosen and how they liked it, and I'm glad but somehow I wished I spent a lot more time creating it. I don't know, out of the blue, while walking around the Ayala malls, I thought of this: "I'm not perfect. I can do a lot of things pretty well but I can be a bit of a stupid jerk in most other stuff… I'm weird and quite socially inept…" Oh well, I drove home as fast as I could (almost forgetting about the muffler. But the boys seemed to have done a good job… the muffler stayed… I stayed…)

Spinning Preliminary Sketch

Raisinhead - Tale of A Modern Day Tiyanak Panels

Puno ng Pangarap Work In Progress

By the way, thank you Diwi for saying "I love you Teacher Rev!" (I love you too), thank you Jared for treating me as the Mr. Bean of your life, thank you Ben for smiling at me whenever you see me, thank you Leslie for the wonderful time, thank you Irene for the Spinning opportunity (hoping for the best)… Good vibes to all…

Ambigram Project: Angel - Belle

I was sent a sketch by Candice who wanted help with an ambigram that reads "Angel" and "Belle" in different configurations.

I really appreciate this attempt, and looking at her solution, I would say that she has found the solution for this ambigram: The "a" of Angel automatically forms the "e" of Belle; the "n" of Angel conveniently translates into the double "l" of Belle; the "el" into the "B"; the challenge here obviously is the "g" and "e" combination.

In creating ambigrams, the ultimate goal is to make the words as legible as possible. In this case, I decided to change the usual configuration of the "e" by flipping it making it readable as a "g" the other way around. With testing, I think it worked.

Upon request, I made the "a" and "e" more curved and feminine.

I just hope that this ambigram will be a worthy tribute to Candice's friend.

Click on the image to rotate...

Logo Design: Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department of Makati Medical Center

In time for the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week Celebrations last July, The Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department of the Makati Medical Center (MMC) commissioned me to create a logo for them. Candice, a staff physiotherapist sent me their initial concepts, which she described as something that looks so much like "The Incredibles":

They wanted a logo that would be used in pamphlets, official documents, lectures, embroideries – all official functions of the department. The logo then had to be simple, iconic and easily represented in all types of media, including clothing. Thinking about a representative symbol for a rehabilitation clinic is not easy especially if you want to be unique. Cliché symbols includes stylized humans in various dynamic poses, wheelchairs and other adaptive equipment and many else (and I've used so much of these in many previous projects!). I started with a particular symbol, that of a hand (which is a cliché symbol in itself). But then I added an ellipse above to make it somehow look like a person.

I then arranged three of these symbols into a composition, something I hope will be able to represent 3's in the rehabilitation profession: the rehab team of the physician, therapist and client, the allied professions composed of the physical therapist, occupational therapist and the speech pathologist, and their vision, mission and objectives.

The idea behind the logo drew an instant appeal from their staff and department head, Dra. Melissa Zamuco-Mercado, and was immediately integrated as part of their celebrations and department branding. As of this moment, the logo is already in use, and pending final approval by the administration of MMC.

And the simplified 3 color versions with the circular seal variation.