The evolution of our logo
“The conception of Outrun the Stigma [logo design] was an intricate process of reflection, idea generation, and brainstorming. How do we capture the strength, dynamism and momentum of a movement?”
A logo is vital to any organization. It can capture people’s attention and fuel their curiosity to learn about the organization it represents. Since 2013, our team has dedicated time creating and developing our logo. It is important that our logo is welcoming and true to our values and the motivation that drives our work.
Here is a quick look at the evolution of our logos and our ideas behind each of them.
2013
Outrun the Stigma began in 2013 as a mental health run and walk initiated by two student clubs at the University of Calgary. The goal was to inspire discussion of mental health and illness on campus. The event was also founded to increase student awareness of resources, services, and supports. Our first logo design, depicting a brain outline on a chalkboard background, related mental health in the context of students. We felt it captured our message of raising mental health awareness on campus as well as reflecting our identity as and focus on students.
2014
In 2014, the brain design remained apart of our logo, but the chalkboard background was removed. The brain remained in our logo because of the common connection it draws to mental health. We removed the chalkboard background to celebrate the growth of our community beyond the university student. But, we introduced a sticky note concept to maintain our connection to students. We brightened up the logo by introducing more texture and vibrant colour.
2016
This year, we have completely reinvent our logo. This is because we think it is important to move away from the brain as a central part of our logo. The brain is often associated with mental health and illness. The problem is that the brain narrows focus to a biomedical view of mental health and illness, and ignores the other complex factors. With our new logo, we wanted to capture the social aspects of mental health and illness and the importance of a supportive community.
This led our team through extensive discussions about how to represent our vision, mission, and values in our logo. The outcome of these discussion is our current logo design. The warm color palette is welcoming of all individuals and groups. The abstract and dynamic wave pattern symbolizing a person's ongoing mental health journey. The four arms of the wave illustrate our four core values: youth led, community-oriented, inclusive of diverse stories, and respectful of the complexity of mental health. Finally, the wave design's momentum convey motion; a call to action, to outrun the stigma.