Medium logo: a transformation and process.
The initial Medium logo was very big, bold, black-and-white slab serif M. Which was strong yet simple and elegant. This logo can easily be absorbed by the viewer in their mind and they can easily relate to it.
But as medium transformed, this logo needed more dimension. It was really hard to transform the whole logo so they initiated the process of exploring different ideas to get new designs. The process was something which caught my eye the most.
The first step was just having fun with the logo connecting you with the “M” as the identity. You play with it, find new meaning and add more dimensions to it. The designer found a connection in accordance to its graphical form to make a new language which speaks about medium’s transformations.
In the second step, it was more of a serious approach. They wanted to make the logo simpler and direct through shapes which easily speaks to theviewer. They formed a series of shapes which had a flow which interconnects various ideas to form a thought or a memorable conversation. They experimented with various geometric forms of “M” which turned out to be a fun activity. So the final product had the essence of having the never ending flow of conversations or ideas by four panels which are interconnected. By observing this logo, you can easily say that these four panels of “M” are interacting or an exchange of information is taking place within themselves.
In the third step, they got into the depth of the process by making sure that the logo doesn’t look too harsh and geometric which I would say is a very essential step. Also they wanted to experiment with color as the logo clearly demands it. Also different shades of color adds a flow to logo where it felt like the “M” is initiating a conversation or an idea. It becomes interesting to have a conversation through shapes with a viewer. Also by curving the corners of the logo they focused mostly on the minute details of it so that it doesn’t strain the eyes.
I feel the whole process is effective, innovative, organized, creative and fun too. Through this process, the designer captures the essence of design and the ideology of the company. Through this, we explore all the possible designs and finalizing the best possible design-form. By following a structured system, we came to know how to market our design.
The shades of color are interactive and speaks out medium’s whole identity.
What catches my eye most is that they focused on minute details which enrich their design like curving the corners of the logo and using isometric formation.
But green color seems a little vague to me after the plan black and white. As I don’t understand the aesthetics of using green color.I got mainly inspired by the creative process they used to reach the final design.
It is very appreciable.
