“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.”
—Georgia O’Keeffe
This is a speed art video of me painting the wild cherry for my new logo. Click the arrow in the middle of the video to watch me paint!
For years I have been searching for the perfect logo design. As a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer, I had high expectations for my logo. It would be a visual representation of me, and as a visual artist, I felt it had to be exceptional. I wanted it to be fun, bright and beautiful.
When I had cherry red hair my friend, Zeet Peabody, gave me the nickname Cherry-o.
To begin with, let me tell you about the name Wild Cherry Art. One of my first words was cherry. When I was born, my parents lived in Cherry Hill, NJ. I've always loved cherries. My first car was cherry red. My hair was bright red for a time in the late 80s when I earned the nickname "Cherry-o" from my friend Zeet. I've been "Wild Cherry" for such a long time. It made sense for me to incorporate it into the name of my business.
For the visuals, I tried:
"Wild" type,
Abstract cherries
Graphic cherries
Distressed type
Distressed cherries
"Wild" colors
Nature-inspired type
I explored all of the above and more, but none of these approaches rung any of my bells. I went with one of my cherry paintings paired with simple, tasteful type. Years later, I recently realized that my Quarantini technique would make a great "Wild Cherry" and Voila! I created my new logo! Here were the finalists:
What I've learned from this process:
Never give up
Start before you're ready
It doesn't have to be perfect.
You can iterate along the way.
Remain open to new directions
If you keep searching, you'll eventually find something that feels right...for now!
I am a classic girl with strong values. I am a little edgy and always looking for fun. I’m definitely an out of the box kind of person and artist. I bring all this to my business and want my logo to reflect that. Below you can see the two winners of my logo challenge. I will use it as long as I feel like it works for me.
This is the winner for a vertical orientation. It’s a classic type treatment with a bold edgy image. Very on brand for me. Also it will make a fantastic business card–solid red on the back with only wildcherryart.
This is the horizontal winner. I like the same classic type here as in the vertical version. In this version the bold edgy art is bursting out of the box. This concept is also very on brand for me.
You know my cherry philosophy, right? Cherries have stems, leaves and are filled with pits. They also yield sweet, juicy, delicious fruit. In life, as with cherries, I encourage you to eat the wild ones, enjoy the fruit and spit out the pits!
Have a cherry day.
Love,
Leslie