The Maze
I recently outlined the origins of Santora Nakama’s Japanese-ness in this blog post. But what about our logo? That strange puzzle-looking thing.
In the very early days, when Geir, Stein and I were locking into the name Santora Nakama, a few obvious Japanese references began swirling. But not too obvious! We kind of liked being a bit mysterious, in disguise even. Sort of worked right? — why else would you keep reading…
Anyway, our logo is actually a play on the Japanese Inkan, combined with a Maze.
Inkan (or Hanko) are a seemingly random, yet unique shape, used as a seal or signature to stamp documents or letters throughout Asia. In a way, an early type of logo. Maze’s are cool. To successfully navigate, they require careful planning and attention in order to reach an exit. Dead ends and cul-de-sacs present riddles to be solved. Combine all this with the letters in our name ‘Santora Nakama’ and things start to take shape. Literally. Can you see it? No seriously, it’s there ;)
Whilst the maze is our primary logo, it’s vertical format is not the ideal shape for smaller applications. Intricacies and line-work easily become lost (pun might be intended :) when scaled down. Given digital presence is especially important these days, we needed something that felt like family and happily worked as an icon or identifier across social media. Our mini-logo was the result. A simplified ‘S’, in square format with a maze like quality.
To top of it off, and hopefully not confuse things further, there was no way this brand was getting out the door without our very own inkan. A Japanese seal. Ask your Japanese friend if we got it right?
