My Logo Design Process
© 2022 Deborah Crutis Designs.
Soft Gold Tree Of Life Complete Logo for Deborah Curtis Designs
If you've never owned a business before or have not been an entrepreneur, you may be surprised by how much planning it takes prior to launching. People get so excited to get the word out about their new business that they forget to relax, take a deep breath, then create a plan.
I'm not going to lay out the entire process in this post. There's just no room for it here. This post is to share my creative process with my new logo. But your designs are all a part of the branding process.
Keep an open mind and an open heart when researching what your brand is all about. Run your ideas past trusted family members and friends. Collaborate with experienced individuals to brainstorm.
Maybe you aren't here to study the creative process for your business logo. Maybe you are here just out of curiosity. That's perfectly fine. I like to see what goes on behind the scenes, too. It helps me to get to know someone on a more personal level.
Back To My Roots
One of the things I've learned is that I feel close to God when I'm spending time in nature. My bare feet touching the grass, letting the sun warm my face, hearing the birds in the trees, watching the clouds float by, butterflies feeding on nectar. Mother Earth is a living being, a beautiful gift to all of us from the Infinite Creator. I feel the vibration of Her, the energy she gives to each of us if we just slow down and pay attention.
While pondering the things that help me focus on my mission statement, I remembered something from my senior year in high school. My journalism teacher, Mrs. Carol Oakleaf (yes, that is her real name), gave us the assignment to change our perspective on life. She asked us to lay on the ground at the base of a tree and look up.
Living in Michigan, I used a very large Sugar Maple Tree in our front yard to complete the experiment. I was totally amazed at all of the details I had never noticed before. I had never looked at a tree in this way.
It may not be an earth-shattering experience for most people, but at seventeen-years-old, I was hooked! I learned that by changing the season, the lighting, your perspective, your attitude --- you can see the world in a whole new way.
Inspiration From Friends
God brings people into our lives for His purposes. If you learn to trust the journey, keeping an open mind and heart, you can have some amazing people to connect with. Sometimes they may help you and other times you may help them.
We are all here to help one another as amazing creations of God. Keep in mind that the intention of this blog is not focused on being profitable. It is focused on uplifting your Spirit and connecting you with the Infinite Creator.
I want to make it very clear here that I am not in the convincing business. I am not trying to convince anyone of anything. I am only sharing my experiences from my journey. My site is about sharing God's message of Love for All His Children through my art and creativity. That is all. I respect each person's free agency and freedom to choose what they believe.
One of the awesome people God brought to me is my friend Sharon. She is unlike anyone I've ever met. She has actually died four different times in her life and was sent back to share her experiences with the rest of us. She has been known to jokingly wonder what's wrong with her that Heaven doesn't want to keep her!
A little history on Sharon. Not being a person seeking fame, notoriety, or to profit from her spiritually transformative experiences (or STE's) and her near-death experiences (also called NDE's), she waited years to share her life's story publicly.
You would think having a totally life-changing experience would fill you with such joy and wonderment that you would rush out to tell the world about God, His Spirit, and meeting Jesus. Now, imagine having more than one of these experiences. You'd want to shout it from the rooftops!
At one point, her husband was actually trying to commit her. He told her she was crazy. Needless to say, that marriage was painful emotionally and physically. Over time, it came to an end.
It appears the majority of the world we are living in is not very receptive. Unfortunately, she was misunderstood, accused of lying, or people twisted the beauty of her experiences into something "new age" or something that it wasn't. She experienced hatred, ridicule, jealousy --- all emotions based on fear. Fear is not from God. I have no room in my heart or my life for fear. I fill it with Love.
Thank goodness God's will prevailed. She was found to be sane by her doctor (he stated to Sharon that her family was insane, not her). She went on to write her story as well as some beautiful poetry. If you have not read my biography yet, know that the profound experiences we have each had have drawn us together. I can share things with her that I can't share with anyone else. That's why she's a great resource for me personally.
My reason for introducing her here is that I want to share a quote from her book, A Song In The Wind by Sharon Milliman. I was focusing on this part of her experience for my logo.
To set the scene, Jesus leads her into a wooded glen in Heaven to have a conversation with God our Father. He teaches Sharon a very important lesson in Chapter 7:
"...I found myself looking at a very large oak tree in front of me. I saw the details of the trunk, such as the little life-giving veins in the tender leaves and the roots beneath the ground. What I saw was not just a tree, but the individual parts that made up the whole tree. I also saw how important all these parts were to the life of the tree. Expanding my view, I also recognized how important the tree was to the environment around the tree. Expanding my view even further, I could see how all things are connected to each other and that every part was important to the whole of creation. "
She goes on to say, "I looked at the tree again, then back to Him and said, 'God, You made this tree, You are in this tree, so when I look at this tree, I see You. ...He said, 'Yes, and...?"
If you are interested in learning about the rest of the conversation and all of the amazing details of Sharon's experiences, her book and other works are currently available on Amazon.
"As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul..." — Hermes Trismegistus
Pondering My Research
I wanted to design something that reflected the importance of how all things are connected. I also wanted to incorporate nature and the things that make me feel close to God on a daily basis.
After pondering, praying, and doing research for inspiration, I knew that The Tree Of Life was going to be the basis for my new design.
The Tree of Life is mentioned several times in scripture and in ancient historical documents. It appears that most of the major world cultures in the ancient world and in modern times have stories or beliefs which involve a Tree of Life motif. Here's a quick list of different interpretations:
The tree of life represents the spiritual realm.
In Rev 2:7, where the tree of life is promised as a reward to those who overcome.
In the Book of Proverbs, the tree of life is associated with wisdom: "[Wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy[is every one]that retaineth her."
Alex Proyas' 2009 film Knowing ends with the two young protagonists directed towards the tree of life. It's one of my favorite movie scenes.
The Tree of Immortality (Arabic: شجرة الخلدShajarat al-Khold) is the tree of life motif as it appears in the Quran.
I knew that after I decided upon this symbol for my logo, I had some serious decisions to make.
I could use an online logo generator (I am a full-time Caregiver for my terminally ill husband and time is precious).
I could also purchase a ready-made logo file and tweak and customize it.
I could hire a designer. (I've never had good luck with this option; I always end up doing it myself).
Design one myself.
This site is not like any that I've created and designed before. This site is not about me, or the business, it's about the mission statement. I know that God's Spirit wants this site to be a co-collaboration with me as the tool to present His message. That means the designs are to be mine with Him inspiring me.
It took about three days of designing before I arrived at the right one. Here is my original sketch with a 4H pencil. The photo shows it while it is still on my sketch pad prior to the rest of the design process.
© 2022 Deborah Crutis Designs.
Original Sketch of Tree Of Life Based Logo Deborah A. Curtis Designs
When you take a photo of a pencil sketch, it will take a lot of cleaning up before you can use it for designing a logo. It took me many hours to do just that. I am very picky! Back in my corporate marketing manager days, we had a saying, "Garbage in, garbage out." I cannot allow substandard designs to represent this endeavor.
Canopy of Love
The canopy represents a Canopy of Love (hence the hearts). This is where the tree bears fruit. The canopy is where the tree shelters and protects its inhabitants. The leaves collect the Light of God's Love and distribute it to the rest of the tree as food and sustenance. This is also where the leaves pick up the breeze and send out a whisper, the story of God's Love for His Children around the world.
The Trunk of Strength and Endurance
The trunk is covered in bark. It is always reaching for the Light, ascending to the sky to receive as much as possible. A tree has bark for protection against rot, insects, disease, and harsh environments. A tree's bark is like our body that houses our Eternal Soul. Trees have souls, too. They are our brothers. Trees come in various shapes, colors, and sizes, just like people. The tree's trunk is like the armor of God. Each tree is Loved unconditionally by our Creator no matter what the texture of its bark, the color, or where it resides here on the Earth.
Roots, The Foundation Of Health
The roots of the tree are key to the health of the mighty tree. Let's take a look at the root system of the giant sequoia trees. Their individual root system is intertwined with the sequoia trees that surround it. This system is like a mighty army interlocking their arms to support each other and hold each other up against earthquakes, wind storms, and anything else in their environment. They spread their roots over about an acre of land, each tree making sure that all receive enough nutrients. Mother Earth provides all of the energy and sustenance that the tree needs.
If you look on the left side, I have depicted one singing bird in the tree canopy. He is singing praises to the Most High God.
I feel this logo clearly depicts my mission statement. While you create and design your branding, always focus on your mission statement in order to get it right. Be concise, consistent, and create an emotional response.
I hope you enjoyed this peek behind the curtain.
Be well, be blessed,
