Read about branding, marketing and more cool stuff : Logo design for famous book series trilogy with over 18 years of brand recognition

This has been one of the more complex projects I has worked as a designer. It is more than creating a new logo, the client has hired me to create a new and fresh image for a brand with over 18 years of recognition. The Secret language is the name of the famous book series trilogy. Visit the website

The Secret Language of Birthdays: Translated into 15 languages, more than 1,000,000 hardcover copies have been sold after 34 printings. Per the author: "By the way, out of over 2 million people who own my books, they find them 80 to 85 percent accurate." This translates to there being a 15 to 20 per cent of error/inaccuracy in the information/personology in this book. The result of years of observations of more than 20,000 people, including contemporary and historical figures. His extension of Henry Murray's concept of Personology posits that people born on the same day share certain traits.

The Secret Language of Relationships: More than 350,000 hardcover copies have been sold. This book presents 1,176 relationship profiles between any two individuals based on the week they were born. In each profile, six relationship realms are discussed: love, marriage, friendship, work, parent-child, and sibling.

The Secret Language of Destiny: More than 150,000 hardcover copies have been sold The third book in the Secret Language trilogy seeks to answer the question, Why am I here?. Based on an individuals complete date of birth, the book reveals what each person came into this life to achieve, what lesson is to be learned, and what goal is to be embraced.

BRIEF

The client was really specific about the logo requirements:

The logo will adorn all of our network websites to provide a continuity between them (since they will be designed quite differently from each other) and also to our 90,000+ products for sale online (www.cafepress.com/mypersonology)

We like your logo which is why we hired you. It is Authentic, Timeless, Intelligent, Trustworthy and Insightful

We want Black on White with a touch of Bright Red. We want to avoid color as much as possible since it undermines the qualities of Authenticity, Timelessness and Trustworthiness. We like Black on White since it respresents our printed material and Bright Red because as a warm and powerful hue it evokes passion, love and it warns of danger and is the color of life.

The iconic sun illustration on the book covers is a powerful reminder of our brand - perhaps the only existing brand identity other than the size and heft of the books themselves. We would love a version of that Sun that could accompany the name "The Secret Language" which could also be recognizable with no text included, just the Sun device itself.

BRAINSTORMING

The first problem to solve is: How can I support the 20.000 people study? It is a real number and not a random number typed on a website.

The answer is easy. There are three heavy volumes full of knowledge, these are not handbooks or PDF documents recompiled from the internet, and one of the most important aspects, they have been around for over 18 years, even before The Secret. Based on this information, I think the books are an important element to keep in mind, this could be a solid base to support the brand with expertise and knowledge.

Another important aspect of the brand is the book layout concept. It is classic, beautiful and timeless. This in part is attributed to the font used - a classic Sans Serif typeface which is always elegant and current... and easy to read. In fact it could be the perfect typography to transmit the same attributes in the new logo.

Since the purpose of the brand is to be recognized in the market as unique in image and methodology, we must be careful to avoid focusing the logo concept in the word "Secret" for obvious reasons. I"m not saying it shouldn't include it in the logo, but I must be careful and avoid its use in the main symbol.

In conclusion, I have focused my brainstorming in three important areas to create the new brand logo.

1. The book is a solid base to support the brand with expertise and knowledge.

2. The sun is the symbol that has been the brand representation for over 18 years and it must be included in the new logo.

3. Sans Serif font could be the perfect typography to achieve a classic, beautiful and timeless look.

LOGO CONCEPTUALIZATION

The process to achieve a simple, solid and timeless logo involves several pages of sketches and notes, but I will try to explain the creative process in the simplest possible way. My challenge was to create a concept that combines these three fundamental elements mentioned above - book, sun and a Sans Serif Typography. Personally, I thought it was crazy to try to create a professional concept combining a sun and a book. Well, that is my problem to solve and that is the expertise the client is paying for.

After some brainstorming, sketching and research, I found the perfect solution to combine the book with the "L" letter, used for "Language". If we see this as an open book which is just perfect knowledge, it starts to make sense.

Now I have to find the way to incorporate the sun. As always, I must keep it simple. After a couple of days of test and sketching, I found the perfect solution - so unique that it is hard to think there is a better alternative. If we see the sunlight as a book pages, we have captured my idea to represent the "L" as a open book and also have incorporated the sun.