The Siren

Logomark and logotype we designed for The Siren, a UK based online literary journal and publisher of unique and avant-garde fiction. The book cover for their first anthology, Fugue, will be revealed shortly so stay tuned!

The type was inspired by pioneering modernists of the turn of the century; Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, constructivists, and the Bauhaus collective. Bauhaus typography stripped letters of all ornamental elements, and reduced things to elementary essentials and used colour in a functional manner. To capture the spirit of the avant-gardists we explored typography that rejects the classic system with regard to how typefaces are used and also we were not be afraid to break some "rules".

We also explored creating a logomark that could exist in combination with the logotype, or in standalone applications such as on the spine of books. We were inspired by the Ulysees' encounter with the Sirens as depicted on the side of Greek vases; our intention was to create a Siren using the elementary shapes used to construct the various letterforms. Something simple, striking and graphically bold. Colour-wise, we chose the red pantone swatch used for hurricane warnings; much like a Siren from mythology, red can be both alluring and dangerous.

http://www.thesiren.co.uk/