In the Fall of 2018, I began to visually communicate my identity, background, and values through a personal logo.
This was a process of constant iteration and introspection.
I refined the idea to encompass three central themes that have had the strongest impact on my identity:
Linguistics, Zen buddhism, and Flow
While deciding how to represent linguistics visually, I was drawn to the logographic writing system used in the science fiction film Arrival (2016).
In the film, a linguist learns an alien language when extraterrestrials arrive on earth.
The visitors use a nonlinear writing system to convey multiple ideas simultaneously, which has an unexpected impact on the human mind.
Next, I was drawn to the Enso, an image from Zen calligraphy.
In the Zen Buddhist tradition, the Enso is a single uninhibited brushstroke – representing a moment of pure creation.
In the words of author Audrey Yoshiko Seo:
"Once the ensō is drawn, one does not change it. It evidences the character of its creator and the context of its creation in a brief, continuous period of time."
I thought back to a time when I had allowed myself to create freely and intuitively.
I was reflecting on my first experience of Flow:
"Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."
- Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
When I was nine years old, I build an Inuit inuksuk in my grandmother’s backyard. These stone structures were built across the North American wilderness as trail markers.
The stones were heavy and difficult to manage, but the challenge thrilled me. I spent an afternoon learning new balance points, nudging, stepping back, watching the stones fall, and starting over again.
After numerous iterations, the final logo merges these themes into a single, cohesive form.
A stack of smooth blocks resemble a human in a seated position, while overlapping gray lines create an open, organic structure.
