Visual Power of a Logo
The name “Oceanic Rebel” is an anagram of my name, and it felt like a good choice. But then, what imagery goes with Oceanic Rebel?
Here is a GIANT nod to my friends Burr and Natalie Settles for a serendipitous June visit to Oregon and a backporch brainstorm that gave me the anagram AND the use of DALL-E, an AI image “hallucinator” that conjures up visuals associated with words. These composite images become especially profound/weird when the inputs are conceptual.
Here is what it gave me for Oceanic Rebel:
Friends voted on their favorites. One said, “these are all terrible, like sports teams.”
When I went to the bank to set up my business accounts, I had to sign my initials and then wait a long time while the bank guy tapped at a computer. I liked the O. What else about that O?
Forty-seven terrible doodles later, some of which looked too much like the symbol for “male,” I had a concept.
An oceanic gyre (the O, turning, like a whirlpool, but imprecisely enough, chaotic enough) with an arrow breaking free.
This is the rebel, this is the changeup.
This thing was a son-of-a-gun to make in my limited visual editing tools, but notice:
The shadow, which gives you a sense of direction and momentum;
The paintbrush, so that you can feel the texture and imprecision (wabi sabi!); and
The return curve, showing the likelihood of going right back into the whirlpool.
I might not be done in the forever sense, but definitely feel accomplishment for the moment.
More about Burr Settles and his projects, ideas, headspace>> and if you are a songwriter, check out FAWM>>
