Image of the Week: And Baby
© Durga Yael Bernhard
This logo was commissioned almost twenty years ago by And Baby – a magazine for lesbian and gay parents produced by Out of the Box Publishing. This was one of my first clients who found me over the internet, and with whom I worked exclusively by email. I never met them in person or even talked to them on the phone – a first for me, at the time. Now it's the not-so-new normal, making the life of an artist that much lonelier. Gone are the days of taking the train into the city with my bulky portfolio, signing contracts in person, and shaking the hands of editors, art directors, and clients. This was also one of the first pieces of art that I delivered via computer. No more mounting a finished illustration on mat board, covering it with tissue paper, and packing it up with cardboard. Off the art goes as a high-resolution tiff file, whoosh! On the down side, such time-saving conveniences have yielded shorter deadlines, as publishers have condensed their production schedules and clients expect things overnight.
The illustration above was meant to be used as a logo. Logos are usually done in one or two colors, but this client wanted full color, with significant purple. I suggested a circle, and they liked that. They wanted the circle to represent the support of the gay parenting community – out of which And Baby had been born. The community, you may notice, bears some stormy weather.
It was challenging for me to represent parents that are completely gender-neutral. In order to make them look like either two women or two men, I had to simplify and simplify. Eventually I saw the two equal figures as two nuclei inside a circular cell – rather like twins. The parents, in turn, encircle their child, forming a vessel within a vessel.
My clients liked that.
A debate ensued about the figures' skin colors. This was a logo, after all, to represent the magazine. A biracial mid-tone was the agreed-upon choice for the nuclear family, with other skin tones shown in the community. I took some artistic license and pushed the mid-tone toward a rusty clay color, which interacted well with the purple background.
I don't know what happened to AndBabyMag.com. The website is up, but I'm not sure it's working or up to date. It's really hard to launch a magazine these days, and I respect these folks for giving it a try.
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard