Many companies seize the opportunity to refresh their identity as the result of another transition. Moving the business to a new location is a good example. You have to reprint all your stationery and update many other items so it’s a perfect time to initiate a change to your image.

Updating the Public Image Design website gave me the chance to do the same thing

It wasn’t easy. A designer designing for them self is like a doctor being a patient. I went through the same arduous process I would with a client until I finally had a design I was happy with. The design above is not that design. Something just wasn’t right. Sometimes when I walk away from a design I’m struggling with and return a short time later, the solution becomes blatantly obvious. It might only take a coffee break or a night to sleep on it. When I came back to this design, I knew what I had to do – start over.

I decided to look for influence in my own work. After all, this design needs to represent what I do. It should indicate to potential clients what to expect. That doesn’t mean all my work will look the same. In fact I think this design demonstrates the contrary.

The four previous versions of my logo were based on the human eye. I really didn’t want that to be the focus (no pun intended) of the new design. I also didn’t want to create an obvious monogram but during the design process possibilities emerged to use the company initials in a more unique way. Each letter would represent a distinct characteristic of my design values and principles. None would be an actual letterform.

P – creativity. This swirling flourish is similar to a P in some script fonts. The flowing lines give a sense of life and energy. In it I see the eye of a lion. Lions have been prominent in some of my best known work.

I – structure. Like an ancient Roman column, the I represents the solid structure on which good design is created.

D – focus. Technically this is a right parenthesis (bracket – like this thing>). It is like the profile of an open eye, which is what my previous logo was based on. It provides continuity with that design. The work I create has an objective and I focus on that in the process.

Creativity, structure and focus. These are the hallmarks of good design and what I always strive to attain.