Designing a Unique & Striking Logo
Working with a fine artist to develop a one-of-a-kind brand.
The original Shaxpir logo illustration was designed by my friend, the incredible artist, James Joel Holmes.
I had seen some of his Halloween-themed drawings during Inktober 2014 — still at least six months before the launch of the original Shaxpir beta — and I loved his pen-and-ink style. So I asked him to create an original illustration for the Shaxpir login screen. I only knew one thing for sure: it should depict two ravens, perched on an old typewriter.
Other than that basic idea, I wanted to leave the rest of the details to his imagination, and see what he could come up with on his own, with just the right amount of inspiration.
Whenever I work with a creative person on a creative project, I’m careful not to give them too many literal requirements about the details of their work. I want to inspire them with ideas, not micro-manage their creativity.
So I tried something new and weird…
Because I wanted the Shaxpir logo to look like an illustration from a piece of classic literature, I wrote a few paragraphs from an imaginary piece of prose, and asked James to pretend that he had been commissioned to create an illustration for this short story:
Tell the tale of two ravens, perched atop that clattering wreck of a typewriter, on the shabby old writing desk, in the shadowy study, in the back left corner of the boarding house, lit by the wan flickering glow of the coal-burning stove.
Two ravens. On a typewriter.
There they waited in silence, staring into the embers.
It was at that very moment I entered the room, eyes darting to and fro, guided by the amber beacon of a dripping brass candlestick held high in my right hand like a talisman. My left hand, held tightly against my breast, clutched a sheaf of yellowing parchment bundled with string.
Upon my entry, this pair of intruders made not a sound nor fluttered a feather, but truly did both turn their countenances toward mine and locked their gazes upon me, tilting their heads with recognition. And accusations. With recollections and premonitions, admonitions and superstitions. Who sent these messengers on this mission?
— YOUR ILLUSTRATION GOES HERE —
I dared not take a breath, nor allow my heart to beat, but gestured with my chin toward the bundle of pages tucked beneath my arm.
“I’ll get started right away.” I whispered. “I have the pages right here.”
The ravens held their gaze a moment longer, in consideration, until with the swoop and swallow of leathery wings, they disappeared through the open window, leaving only the billowing of curtains to echo their departure.
I unbound the pages and sat at the desk. The coming night would be longer and darker than I would care to remember.
I also asked him to take some inspiration from John Tenniel’s Alice in Wonderland illustrations. At first glance, the animals look a lot like the characters from Beatrix Potter, or the Wind in the Willows, or Winnie the Pooh… But if you look closely at the animals’ eyes, you can see something wrong inside them all. There’s something sinister about these creatures. There’s something rotten about their intentions. Most of them are stark raving mad, just utterly boiling with lunacy.
It worked.
Within a few days, in the late afternoon of Christmas Eve 2014, James sent me the first glimpse of his masterpiece:
My heart skipped a beat. It was exactly what I wanted.
It’s the perfect embodiment of the Shaxpir brand: classic, literary, and quirky. A welcome departure from the typical startup logo, and something we can truly call our own. The final illustration, which arrived shortly thereafter, has been the emblem of our brand for the past two years:
Sign up for our latest release, Shaxpir 4: Everyone, which gives any author the power to brainstorm, outline, write, revise, and publish a complete novel or memoir. For anyone, anywhere. For free, forever.
