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November 29, 2006

Snowflake Symbol Design Inspiration

This week I've enjoyed the process of designing our 2006 MakaluMedia Christmas cards, being especially pleased with how quickly the design has moved from inspiration to completion.

This year's idea focuses on a snowflake theme in blue. Can you make out what the snowflake has been built from?

It's created from the circular outer arms of the MakaluMedia logomark. Check out the Makalu logomark, below the snowflake.

While at Caribou Coffee last week, I noticed all of the snowflakes on their printed materials, which inspired me to build a snowflake from bits of our company logo.

The Process
Here's how I formed the snowflake design with parts of our MakaluMedia logo.

Using an outer arm, I spun it around a central point, resizing the arm and exploring different placements of arm: with the ball end of the arm at the center and also at the edges of the snowflake.

As I worked, a star shape emerged at the center, so I removed some artifacts, to further emphasize the star shape.

Finally, I reversed a circle out of the snowflake's center star and placed MakaluMedia dual Ms in the middle of the circle to complete the snowflake design.

You never know where inspiration may come from — be ready to capture it!

Technorati Tags: design, snowflake, christmas, inspiration

November 29, 2006 5:02 PM | Design | add to del.icio.us

Comments

Awesome design, Mike! It's intricate, without being busy. I really like that one.

Posted by: Dan Stout at November 29, 2006 11:17 PM

Thanks Daniel! :-)

Posted by: Mike Rohde at December 5, 2006 10:11 AM

Your design is pleasing to look at, and to then look at some more. I think it's the parallel (clockwise & alternating) arms that catch the eye. Unexpected. Nice.

Posted by: Heka at December 8, 2006 12:44 PM

Thanks Heka! I should post a photo of the final card here to see the symbol in use. :-)

Posted by: Mike Rohde at December 9, 2006 4:40 PM

Nice, but you know: snowflakes are hexagonal, while your design is octogonal.

Posted by: Svein H at December 15, 2006 5:26 AM

Svein, yep -- this is just a fun exploration on the snowflake idea using parts of the MakaluMedia logo. I wasn't too worried about being scientifically correct. :-)

Posted by: Mike Rohde at December 15, 2006 9:19 AM