Generating a Symbol in the Age of The Internet : A Rare Call to Action

The importance of symbols cannot be underestimated. A good logo is part and parcel of any visual branding strategy. Well, I’m going to make something like a logo for a new project of mine, which involves sending my thoughts out into the world at a much slower pace than the rapid information highways of cyberspace – I’m thinking of sending people heartfelt letters via the good old postal service.

The Evolving Internet

During my lifetime the Internet has emerged, gone through various transitions and is now a seemingly irreplaceable force which underpins societies in terms of infrastructure and shapes societies in terms of cultural change. The formative stages of the Internet that I first got to know (think late 90s) were text–based; forums, chat rooms and messaging services. Twenty years later and video and imagery have come to dominate the online world. As of late 2018 (and according to Omnicore);

1 billion hours of YouTube content are watched per day and YouTube attracts about 1/3 of users on the internet.

I would say that whilst these figures are mindboggling, there’s nothing as important as a static symbol, something to point to and say “I identify with this, this represents something important to me”. It is held by some that the Internet diffuses and distorts meaning but certain symbols imbued with multiple layers of significance seem to be resistant across time.

The Meaning of Football Club Badges

I was thinking about my recently growing interest in Liverpool Football Club and cast my mind back to when I was a youngster and half-heartedly collected football stickers. Having basically no interest in football at that time, I disregarded most of the players but particularly liked the shiny crests/badges. My favourites of the time were Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers as their emblems most appealed to me. I thought the owl was simplistic and smart, whilst the red rose of the Blackburn badge with the Latin text beneath struck me as aesthetically pleasing.

Inspired by this memory, I looked into the symbolism inherent in the crest of LFC which includes a shield, the Liver Birds, the Shankly Gates, the ever-burning flame of remembrance for the 96 people who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster and the slogan You’ll Never Walk Alone, itself a lyric from a fan song. This is a collection of symbols that embody the clubs history and suggests the significance of being a Liverpool supporter.

My Current Endeavour

Having mentioned an interest in writing letters to my nearest and dearest (itself a reaction to too much internet facilitated communication) I received a decent pen and nice paper as gifts this Christmas. Now, I must use them. However, before I get started on the letter-writing project I wish to create such a badge for myself, something slightly more complex than a generic logo but still straight-forward enough to have as a letterhead.

A wise Indian man once said suffering is the badge of the human race. With this in mind, I plan to incorporate something about life’s struggles and possibly my own struggles into the badge. No easy task. I also probably want to put at least one identifying feature as there must be something that represents me personally. I’ll probably just use my initials C and R. The final thing I want to include is a reference to the hi-tech world I will be intentionally neglecting each time I put pen to paper.

Get in Touch

I am open to suggestions and input. I never usually put a call to action at the end of my posts but if you are reading this in 2019 and have some great idea for combining the notions I have mentioned into a neat little graphic, please comment, or message me through the contact section of this site. Contact can be an interesting thing, who knows what could happen? Get in touch, and maybe one day I’ll be writing you a letter!