Medium logo: a transformation
‘a personal and subjective view on the design process’
The initial design for the Medium (beta version) logo was a black and white letter ‘M’ from the font Stag. Though in my opinion, it was simple, to the point, bold, and ‘classy’ it somewhere failed to reflect a strong fundamental base and the aesthetics related to Medium as it was mentioned as ‘inflexible as a logo’. It did lack the gravity or the depth to its own identity as Medium is used nowadays, becoming one of the greatest tools for not just publishing articles but also for meeting and interacting with new people and the array of information it provides from around the world.
After going through the article, on the basis of the astuteness of the approach I have broken down the process into three basic levels as I have perceived :
First level: Just being on a superficial level and playfully trawling through the different elements attached to Medium, the designer creates a graphical representation out of it in the form of shapes which is very similar to a ‘mood chart’ (a common approach followed in most of the design industries). Out of these shapes, the designer chooses the concept of ‘connection’ which becomes the prime ‘form idea’.
Second level: In the second level Rod Cavazos actually goes into the depths of the process using just a simple concept i.e., the essence of a flow and the never-ending ‘connection’ of ideas. So, the moment when I started to observe the shapes it did had an essence of a ‘loop’ or an infinite flow to the letter ‘M’ in a very structured geometry. The geometrical nature could have been his style or a trend which I was not really clear about.
Third level: The depth and the philosophical intensity the designer went through in selecting the ‘one’ out of all the samples was absolutely remarkable. The planes (symbolizes interactions, conversations, or gaining information I think) and how their dynamics change after coming in contact with one another in a shape of an ‘M’ is the core concept that caught my attention the most. They also have gone deeper in customizing the fonts and exploring the optical sizes of the logo so that the letters are in flow in accordance with the logo and look pleasing to the eye.
I feel this whole process had a story which is the most important element in designing. A keen observation of the integrated details and a strong philosophical backbone is a primal sign of a good design and so is the Medium logo. A strong foundation and a structured system for its final product also give an insight into selling the product successfully.
Though my concern was the use of green color. Yes, it's very contrasting and easily catches the eye. But, I failed to understand the aesthetics and the concept of using shades of green. In my opinion, it does lower the value of the foundation and the logo itself.
However, the knowledge it imparted has greatly enhanced my design thought process and did open up a new dimension for my future endeavors.
THANK YOU
