Behind the Branding

Welcome to Wind Rose Arts, the journey of an amateur artist blooming into a professional.

I’ve been waiting to write this first post until I finished designing my logo. Well, that day is here.

I had a few edits I finished up yesterday and I can now say, I’m happy to reveal it, along with the meaning behind my brand name and logo.

I thought long and hard about what I’d like the brand to be and how I could represent that in just a few short words. I wanted something that would encompass my many creative passions under one name, something that felt unique yet still familiar. I kept coming back to the words ‘all encompassing’, from there I borrowed the idea of a compass.

I’ve always loved compasses, they signify so much in one small item.

Compasses foster a sense of safety in the knowledge that you can always rely on one to lead you home (as long as you know which direction home is).

However, they also represent adventure, traveling out into the unknown. I already thought of this endeavour as a journey so I thought that it fit really well.

I remember reading a book about a girl venturing out into a winter night and finding herself in the palace of a man turned polar bear. I’m not sure of the name or a lot of what happens but one part really stuck with me. The girl’s father had been a map maker and the book explained his process of drawing wind roses in the most romantic and lovely way. Telling of how much of an art form it could be to show the directional points on an old map.

Note: after a short search I believe the book is called East, by Edith Pattou. Apparently it's an adaptation of an old Norwegian folk tale entitled "East of the Sun and West of the Moon"

These days not many people appear to know what a wind rose is so I’ll explain.

A wind rose, also known as a compass rose is the representation of a compass, with its directional points, on a map. It helps travelers orient themselves according to the map. It stands out in comparison to simply writing the directional points as there was often a lot of other writing on maps. Paper wasn’t always cheap so people made do with writing on maps to inform travelers of dangerous areas to look out for, or to give more specific directions, instead of using precious paper or journal space.

As for the logo itself the explanation is much shorter so please bare with me. The wind rose is the base for it, of course. I also wanted to brighten it up with some colour. My first thought was obviously a rose, later I stumbled upon what's known as a compass plant. The plant has bright, yellow flowers that look a little like daisies, and is called a compass plant because of the leaves that grow primarily on the North-South axis.

I chose a wind rose to represent my brand because of the deep, long remembered meanings behind the compass. Along with it being in line with my wish for something simple, familiar, yet unique in that everyone knows the individual words but few know the meaning of the two together.

Perhaps I went too deep into what's really just a name but I feel strongly about choosing something meaningful for my brand. I want this brand to embody my passion for creative pursuits, so why not put a little of that passion into the heart of it?