Development of a new logo for the Sapphic Cafe

Sapphic Cafe

Logo redesign proposals ?

University: unibz

Student: Sofie Neudecker

Supervisor: Michele Galuzzo

Sapphic Cafe

Where: Southhampton in the UK

What: Social group specifically for people who identify as sapphic. A dry, non-alcoholic space modelled loosely on lesbian cafe culture. Free self-expression, free expression of love for all things sapphic. Regular offer of events in Southhampton and its surrounding area. Relaxing and fun social environment. e.g. talks, crafting, movie nights. Who is included: all who consider sapphic as part of their identity. e.g. lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, asexuals and other existing sexual orientations. Trans- and non-binary inclusive. Not included: straight people. Digital community on facebook. Organisation of events in real-life.

Current visual identity

Self-presentation on facebook:

Colours: shades of violet and magenta combined with areas of cyan and yellowish accents. Simple symbols /signs/icons: Heart, shooting star, lightning (too easy?)

Partly: transparent. Focus of the image: text in the centre Violet/pink sans-serif typeface with black outlines and turquoise shadows (very distracting, too much? - but: clear outline around the comparatively bright letters of the typeface in front of the darker background image). Busy background which often changes its colour (too distracting for the reader?). The design still conveys a feeling of femminity, fun, playful- and openness.

Applications

Recipee book: available for 4 Pounds on etsy.com

A zine of personal coffee rituals and recipes. Might make baristas cringe. Also it’s gay.8 illustrated pages, printed on bright white paper in full color, Staple bound.

Arts and crafts event at the Art House Cafe in Southhampton Major colour: violet in different shades, use of two different typefaces, thin, rational capital letters, a softer sans-serif typeface with pink shadows behind the letters, flat, simple illustrations of women dancing and having fun, clearer design, feeling of fun, problem: dancing is not really related to arts and crafts.

Sapphic Cafe meetup at Southhampton Pride, date: 28th of August 2021,meet up on the day, walk together on the march, wish to have a flag, reduction to a banner due to organisational problems, in the background: flags of all the sexual orientations and gender identites with which the sapphic cafe group wants to show its solidarity, flags are comprised into the shape of a heart, overlapped by the texts in the foreground, addition of yellow shining stars into the composition.

Event: Halloween Brunch, When: 24th of October 2021

Where: Trago Longe in Portswood Road, Southhampton

Exception: not a fully dry event, readaption of the first design: exchange of the signs/symbols/icons, replacement by images typically associated with Halloween Matching the colour sceme of cold colours in the shades of pink, blue and violet, not really scary: rather girly and playful.

Members of the Sapphic Cafe community group participating at the Southhampton Pride in August 2021. Their outfits are matching the rainbow flags printed onto the banner. The Art House Cafe in Southhampton where sapphic events regularly take place.

References

Artwork: The Birth of Venus (Nascita di Venere)

By Sandro Botticelli ,probably executed in the mid 1480s Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, depicts Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, fully-grown emergence from the sea

An icon of the Italian Renaissance, virtually unprecedented in western art sice antiquity: subjects from classical mythology on a large scale (172,5cm x 278,9cm), size and prominence of a nude female figure, sensory and accessible appeal

Venus

Roman goddess

Functions: love, beauty, sex, desire, fertility and prosperity

Ancestor of the Roman people through her son Aeneas

Greek counterpart: Aphrodite

Embodyment of love and sexuality

A Hymne to Venus, by Sappho

O Venus, beauty of the skies, To whom a thousand temples rise, Gaily false in gentle smiles, Full of love-perplexing wiles; O goddess, from my heart remove The wasting cares and pains of love. If ever thou hast kindly heard A song in soft distress preferred, Propitious to my tuneful vow, A gentle goddess, hear me now. Descend, thou bright immortal guest, In all thy radiant charms confessed. Thou once didst leave almighty Jove

In her poem “a hymne to venus”, which was written around 610-580 B.C., Sappho is looking up to the Greek goddess Venus. She is requesting her help because her love doesn’t love her back and she is broke inside. Throughout the story it is not stated if the person the poet admires is a he or she. Sappho asks Venus, who has the capability to manipulate romantic and erotic feelings, to lure or wily this beloved person. After a while, the goddess of love comes down to earth in a chariot carried by a fleet of sparrow and promises to answer Sappho’s prayers and to fullflill her requests. Finally, the poet is satisfied and her grief is eased.

Cover of the magazine Sappho from November 1976 showing ‘the three Botticelli beauties.’ Cover of the final issue of Sappho showing ‘the three Botticelli beauties’ turned away in order to face the future. Venus and Cupid appearing to Sappho to console her, John Gibson RA, 1790-1866 Inspiration for the written part of my logo: cover of the 7th edition of the Sappho magazine

Logo sketches

Outline drawing of the entire bodies of the three Botticelli Venuses, use of a very strong and thick calligraphic brush, rough and strong appearance, difficulty to capture facial details

Change: from outlines to surfaces,more filigrane, but: doesn’t match the stroke of the written part of the logo

Solution: zoom in on the cover image of the first edition of Sappho magazine.This image finally served as a reference on top of which I created a new appearance which was simplified and hat the same stroke size as the written

part of the logo. Even though the stroke size was very thick and rough, there wasn’t such an enormous loss of facial details due to the zoom in and the increase of the frame of the image.

Logo sketches

Final positive monochrome logo

Negative monochrome version

Coloured version

Futura

Font for body texts and more detailed information of the corporate identity, geometric sans-serif typeface, designed by Paul Renner, released in 1927, contribution to the New Frankfurt project, based on geometric shapes, especially the shape of a circle, development as a typeface by the Bauer Type Foundry, association with efficiency and forwardness Based on strokes of near even weight ,extensively marketed by Bauer as capturing the spirit of modernity, lowercase: tall ascenders, nearly circular, single-story forms for the “a“ and “g“

Barbara Kruger

Beginning in the late 1970ies, American conceptual artist Mainly used futura, her work challenges viever to reflect on gender, stereotypes and consumerism, notable works:“Untitled“ (Your body is a battleground“, “You are not yourself“ and “I shop, therefore I am“),often: grouped with feminist postmodern artists such as Jenny Holzer, Sherrie Levine, Matha Rosler and Cindy Sherman

In Sappho magazine

Due to the strong association with feminism and female empowerment, futura was regularly featured in the editions of Sappho magazine.For example, it served as a subheadline and for the face value on the cover of the very first edition. It was often used for the body texts of articles, as well.