NHHC Rebranding
The Naval History History and Heritage Command (NHHC) is responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage. As part of their effort to create a modern brand, I created a series of logos that implement the quill pen as symbol of recorded history coupled with contemporary illustrations and typography.
Along with its website modernization, the Navy History & Heritage Command (NHHC) announced a competition for a new logo. I am ardently opposed to spec work of any kind. However, I was already on contract to design and help develop their website, and I love the Navy. My submission was chosen, along with an amateur entry from the Navy community, and elements from each were incorporated into the final logo. Such is the nature of competitions, but I was glad to see my principle design element, a ship astride atop a quill pen, in the official logo.
Navy logos, especially those for ships, tend to have everything and the kitchen sink thrown in, so I knew from the start that I would be working against an entrenched visual bias with my starkly minimal (in comparison) concepts. The monogram logo was a long shot, but it was, and I believe still is, the best possible direction for an organization attempting to attract new interest.
Knowing that minimal and modern would go over poorly, I decided to at least push for modern and tightly executed. Understanding my audience paid off in this case. I chose an aircraft carrier over a wooden ship because I wanted to show a connection between the past and present. I also wanted to avoid drawing something that looks like it belongs on an aftershave bottle.