From Red G's to REALLY Red G's

One big advantage of being a 'master of several trades' is that I am assigned to the sign-painting department aka developing the visual continuity of our logo and color theme. The word 'advantage' is used in this instance because it would cost a small fortune if we had to job all of this out. PLUS, it is a sheer pleasure to focus creative juices on our own baby, Gibson-Gaudet's Gallery & Gifts...affectionately known as 'G-G's Gallery & Gifts'. 

The very first coat of red over the yellow base.

 Don't ask me why, but I decided to chronicle the evolution of the red 'G' from its first coat of red against a bright yellow backdrop. Yellow is a comfortable, homey color...even friendly, while red is outgoing and looking for a gr8 time.

Increasing the intensity with another coat. 

I figured, if I don't photograph this process as I go, it will be a process that is lost forever. Literally, as each successive layer gets buried as they build up. Just for the heck of it, I ran for my camera after the first coat and kept it handy to see the red 'G's'  through to completion.

Introducing highlights to suggest a beveled edge.

I like the idea of mimicking a three-dimensional, really shiny surface like poured resin, or carved ruby...polished to a bright sheen. This dresses up the 'G's to make them outstanding in contrast with the other flat rendered text and plain - but friendly- yellow backdrop.

The beveled effect is enhanced with the addition of shadowy bits.

Once the shadows are introduced-with consideration to a constant light source- the 3-dimensional, extra-shiny look kicks in.

Finally, after painting in the sunshine the effect of a raised, liquidey bright, clear ruby red is suggested.

A fairly delicate blending of translucent glazes finishes the 'G's of the G-G's logo to an eye-catching polish. 

In every instance, there is a concerted effort to accentuate the three-dimensional effect of the signature 'G-G's' as seen on the large sign just south of Manitou Beach on highway #365.

This rendering appears consistently throughout the graphic application of the logo...there's that graphic continuity thing again.

Life of a Logo

I am a founding member of the 'Spirit of Manitou Studio Trail' and we are now organizing for our fifth year. Check our website here to see what it's all about.


At one of our first meetings it was decided to ask the members to submit designs for an official logo. It would be our 'calling card to the universe', so it had to be clear, simple, meaningful and memorable.


Turns out my rough design was selected as the one with most potential as a logo for the Artists' Collective 'Spirit of Manitou Studio Trail'.


The logo had to be very legible so I decided to only slightly morph the initials slightly.


Here is a rough approximation of the design process that I went through at the time:


( I started with a passel of pencil sketches obviously...I have no clue if I saved them or not.)

The basic idea was to somehow integrate the 'S' of Spirit and the 'M' of Manitou into a flowing design. At first I thought it might look good as a sort of 'trail' or path design...

Then I tried the idea of building up the trail design to make it look like a dike or berm with a walking path on top. This idea ended up in the trash. The 'S' and the "T' were becoming LESS legible, which is a bad thing.

The 'aha!' moment came, finally. I realized I could mate the 'S' and the 'M' together to take on the appearance of a 'thunderbird' or 'Great Spirit' when you look at the 'negative space', ie: the WHITE as a shape.

With the addition of an additional layer of graduated gold ( for a total of only 2 colors in consideration of replication costs and simplicity) into the background of the design, and just a hint of drop-shadow for a 3-D pop-up, the logo was camera-ready.

When you go here you will see the latest incarnation of a 'logo' that I designed over five years ago now.


It is a link to 'Sask Culture'. They have built us ( Spirit of Manitou Artists' Collective ) a dedicated redirect page on their website which includes, you guessed it, this logo.


Of course the logo appears on the masthead of SpiritofManitou.ca and also on our brochure.


We printed it on directional signs that every member will be posting for the weekend of the trail.


This logo is really getting around. I couldn't even begin to guess how many eyeballs have seen it over the past five years.