logo agogo

Because I'm crazy and like to get wild on Friday nights, I spent some time last night working on a new banner for the top of the shop, mostly because I'm pretty sure I hadn't changed it since I moved to shopify back in 2014. It's always hard to find the right balance of visuals that don't clash or compete too much with the covers. artwork, and product photos.  A few years back I made a simple circle logo that was a nice pale blue that I used on the webpage, as our fb thumbnail, etc, but always like the books to be a little cleaner on the back, so usually just use "dancing girl press & studio" written out.  Our unnofficial logo, and what I use for signs and such, has been my little jackalope that ate the fox image, still one of my favorites and one our best selling prints.  It seems perfect somehow--pretty, but a little feral.  Nothing to do with dancing, but still similar in concept.

In the early years, I fussed over logo and web design options endlessly.  The initial name for the press was inspired by a french can-can dancer poster in my apartment and somewhere there is a logo featuring a cutout of her that I never really liked.  I chose it mostly because I liked the idea of the dancing girl, as both observed and observer.  As sexual and sexualized.  As actor and acted upon. There was another design years later  with line drawings of ballet dancers.  There were doll diagrams on the page according to my file directory, and I remember I used to overhaul the whole look every few months back when everything was contained to the main site.  Over the years, it splintered off onto other platforms and the main page was just a landing spot that boasted whatever directory buttons I was using at the time.

They always talk about cohesiveness in branding, and while I've never been one for strict unifying images, all the visuals usually meld together nicely.  Even my own website has changed a lot over the years.  I don't like to limit myself to one design concept since things don't always work perfectly across the board--online vs. print.  Last year, I made the best little business cards using one of my ordinary planet pieces (the octo woman mermaid) to promote kristybowen.net.   I've designed many other logos for other things--I'm particularly proud of the periodic table inspired AofR logo and my design for The Chicago Cryptozoological Society,

Last night, after I had cleaned up the design of the shop page, still retaining the jackalope that we've come to be known for (and in nod to my quiet and agreeable co-editor), I decided to see if I could wrangle a new logo and it turned out rather nicely.  I even wound up using it on the landing page of the main site since I liked the simplicity of it.  It's small and unobtrusive enough that I might even be able to use it on books occasionally--and could make it varying colors to match covers.

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