ele: A personal logo inspired by my name, Elena, which means light in Greek.

tools: foamcore, wood, laser cutter, CAD

when: September 2019

Concept Sketches

For a physical logo, I wanted to incorporate my initials, E.M.W., in some way, due to their interesting geometry. The E can be rotated to look like an M or W, and the M can be reflected horizontally to look like a W. I also wanted to include the meaning of my first name, which is “light” in Greek, which is reflected in sketches of lightbulbs.

Prototypes

The first prototype was made using a bandsaw to cut out the center piece of the wooden frame. The second prototype was made using foam core and pipe cleaner was a perfect substitute for the wiring that was to be placed inside. The foam and pipe cleaner was easy to manipulate to visualize the final iteration.

Laser Cutting

The parts were sketched in Illustrator before laser cutting the acrylic, closely resembling glass. Since the lightbulb would stand up, I wanted the “wire” to spell out my name from both sides. The lower outline of the wire also curves to look like a “w”, which is my last initial.

After an initial laser cut, I found the negative space to be more aesthetically pleasing. I changed the Illustrator sketch to fix this.

The Product

Below are photos of the finished personal logo, ‘ele’. Some string lights were added for the full effect, and I designed a digital version was to serve as a personal logo for this website.