During 2015, working for a family support service in Logan, I was approached to design a logo for our new program. The logo needed to represent our multicultural community, as well as our work to support families.
This was the result…
The concept went through several iterations, as all creative work does.
Here is the original ink and pencil sketch:
I coloured the scanned ink-work in Photoshop, and added some extra elements. Why not a possum in a tree, and a family of ducks walking down the road?
And we wanted to have a strong indigenous Australian element. I’m not indigenous and I have no training or experience with indigenous art. I felt very tentative about appropriating elements of indigenous art – the genuine indigenous art has sacred meaning, and I didn’t feel good about using it insensitively.
I liked the Rainbow Serpent, however:
Well, this was all getting a bit much!
So we (regretfully) got rid of the Rainbow Serpent, and the possum too. And replaced the ducks with echidnas. And added a koala playing a didgeridoo… why not?
The finished artwork is now getting distributed all over Logan, on postcards, email footers, and brochures.
Mara Dall is a writer and traveller, exploring wild, magical places of the earth, of the mind, and of the soul. Read more about her here.
