Emblem of Light

     I decided to make the emblem that incorporates lightness as a religious figure.  This is a picture of a statue Virgin Mary blended through photoshop with candles at the Key West cemetery.  I thought this was relevant and an important logo.  Out of all the themes that were present in The Color Purple, lightness can be especially visible and valid regarding the theme of spirituality. 

     Spirituality can lift ones spirits metaphorically but if you are religious, you also believe that your spirit will go to heaven after death.  I thought that Celie believed this idea so I wanted to show this image.  I chose to show a woman religious figure that reminded me of Celie’s struggles, the main character in The Color Purple.  I once again made the image very simple to let it speak for itself.  I didn’t want too much going on around the image of the woman. 

Emblem of Multiple

    The idea of the triangle in relation the pelvis region of women and men is relevant to the idea of multiplicity.  As Macnab states, a woman’s reproductive organs form an upside-down triangle: ovaries, womb, and birth canal contained within the triangular truss of the pelvis, while the triangle pointing upward is a symbol for the male.  Multiplicity occurs through reproduction, which occurs through sex between a male and female.  When a man and woman mate they produce offspring and eventually they produce children of their own, and through this interaction of men and women multiplicity continues.  This is relevant to The Color Purple because Celie has children of her own in the book, although she has to give them up, and she is struggling with her womanhood throughout.  The triangle symbolically represents these concepts she is trying to grasp as she grows older.

     I wanted to make a logo that was a little more interpretive and abstract for the viewer.   I decided to use triangles and put many smaller ones inside a big one.  I wanted to show the idea of reproduction and how it occurs through multiple generations of women.  The triangle is the appropriate symbol to show that and that is why I made some of the triangles upside down.  

 

Analogy of Multiple

     Circles are used to represent everything in life not only regarding the constant reproduction of living things but also the idea of colors, like when looking at a color wheel.  In The Color Purple Shug and Celie have a conversation about God and Shug says “I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice it.”  Shug is saying that God wants you to notice all things on earth and the colors that encompass it are a big part of that.  The circle is emblematic of the color wheel and multiplicity since the colors that are produced from it are expansive.  The RYB color wheel talked about by Macnab encompasses primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.  The three primary colors are red, yellow and blue. If you had any two of these three colors together you get a secondary color.  There are three secondary colors: green, orange, and purple.  From the combination of primary and secondary colors come six tertiary colors.  Each tertiary contains one primary color plus one secondary. Adding black creates a shade and adding white affects the color as well, causing what is called a tint to occur.  Neutrals are created by combining colors opposite each other on the color wheel or by adding black and white.  The combination of different colors makes the number of possibilities vast.

     The logo I chose was for a business called Color Wheel Gallery.  The owner wanted it to look funky but also incorporate the idea of a color wheel in the design.  This is what the web designer came up with.  I think it is an interesting and accurate interpretation of the wheel and shows the fun side of the gallery.  I also feel like the bright colors will draw in customers.  

 

Design of Multiple

     Macnab uses the conceptual nature of the square and the idea of the number four in chapter 4 of her book and it affects The Color Purple regarding the idea of multiplicity in numerous ways as well.  Macnab makes known that the number infiltrates our existence through multiple elements, which include the four corners of the earth and four directions, seasons and quarters in an hour as well. In The Color Purple sisters Celie and Nettie are separated by continents, as Celie is in America and Nettie is doing missionary work in Africa.  There are a plethora of letters sent across the four corners of the earth and through numerous seasons.  Each Easter and Christmas Nettie writes to her sister over the years and the number four is present in the seasons as well (spring, summer, fall, and winter).

     Quilting is a recurring subject broached in The Color Purple and it is indicative of the ideas relating to the number four and multiplicity as well.  Quilting squares have four corners and to form the finished product of the actual quilt, a large quantity of these squares must be produced and sewn together.  This is the perfect way to describe the idea of multiplicity as it relates to both texts. 

 

 

Experience of Multiple

     Calvino says that catastrophes are like a whirlpool towards which a multitude of converging causes have contributed, rather than one single thing.  A knot or tangle of events causes a mess to ensue.  Calvino says the contemporary novel (which The Color Purple is an example of), is like an encyclopedia as a method of knowledge and a network of connections between events, people and the things of the world.

     When I read The Color Purple I became very aware of the concept Calvino speaks of.  There were so many converging events that jumbled together to form a mess of things.  Albert’s relationship with Celie was horrible and her father treated her badly as well.  Sophie is sent to jail and Celie has to take care of everyone near her and at the same time she misses her sister, who she thinks is dead for years until she realizes Albert has been hiding her letters.  Celie also discovers that her daughter was adopted by the woman who Nettie (Celie’s sister) is in Africa with, which connects more people in the story.  All these events cause quite a mess but also show the connections that are held between people in the story and how they are all connected in some way.   

Emblem of Visible

     For my emblem I decided to alter a person’s profile and show light emanating from her eyes.  I wanted it to look like projector screens were coming out of the woman’s eyes to show that this person was looking at something and that she was processing it as well.  The light almost makes it look like she is illuminating something in front of her for others to see, rather than taking in the image themselves.

     I like that people could be watching this person’s mind’s inner workings as if her eyes were a projector.  Like Macnab said, Dante saw images like on a screen of television that is separate from objective reality of his journey beyond earth.  That is sort of what I wanted to convey here.  It’s a little different since others are seeing the images separate from objective reality, not just the person with illuminated eyes. 

Analogy of Visible

     I found a logo that shows the idea of visibility well.  This logo is for a company catering to musical talent and general music catering at parties.  It is a simple image but also visually enticing due to the sparkling letters spelling out the company’s name, “Shag”.  There is what appears to be a record in the background but it is barely visible.  The record is of course circular, which as Macnab says represents wholeness and a common bond.  A common bond and understanding is important in business which is why the circle is ideal as it is an inclusive symbol.

     This image reminded me of The Color Purple when Shug Avery would sing at Harpo’s nightclub.  Celie and Albert and everyone important in their lives would walk down to his place and watch Shug sing live and in person.  I felt like this would be a logo Harpo would use for his club and it is visually appealing in its simplicity especially because of the shine that is recreated with silver highlighting.