A word from one of my clients. I love working with Tamsin and helping her build her wonderful vision. It has been a very satisfying and rewarding journey so far; we have a logo that resonates with the future Tamsin dreams of. Now we are building that for success. Here is Tamsin’s story so far (I asked if I could use her blog, thanks Tamsin).

Why Hands Down? Branding my nature play business

 Rebranding a business isn’t easy. Who am I and what do I represent? What message do I want to send out into the world? My brand is me standing up for what I believe in. As an advocate for children connecting with nature, I provide creative nature programs for children and also design natural spaces for play.

 The name

 I started with more obvious nature-based names for my business and I kid you not, they were pretty much all taken. That in itself says something about this rapidly growing industry I am proud to be a part of. Hands Down came forward as a feeling and I like that it evokes many meanings.

For a start ‘hands down’ is used to describe someone or something that is definitely the best or most important. It evokes winning easily and decisively. Being without a shadow of doubt. That feels good as I believe so strongly that engaging with nature is absolutely essential at this time in history.

In the singular, as in ‘hand down’ the words mean to transmit in succession, as from adult to child. That is exactly what my work stands for. It is up to us to help children get out into nature to compensate for our increasing indoor and technology led lifestyles.

 The name suggests hands down in the dirt. To me it implies freedom to be messy and grounded. It is the opposite of ‘hands up’, to ask permission to speak in turn. It advocates for child-led learning through spontaneous play.

The image

 I am a tactile creature and touch has always been my way to explore my environment. Hands help us interpret the world, but they also help us create. I knew hands should be part of the logo. An adult’s helping hand reaching down to a child’s hand represents a giving and a receiving.  Interconnected fingers also suggest working together in collaboration, like the cogs of a wheel.

 The circle is a favorite symbol of mine, it expresses the feminine, the whole, the planet. The hands over the circle are a kind of blessing for the earth, and goodness knows we need it! Our future and that of the planet really is in our hands.

 The logo called for an Australian landscape feel. I moved away from the obvious choice of green. To me nature is a crazy mass of all colours, indeed our planet is predominantly blue when viewed from space. Unintentionally, the colours represent the four elements; earth – orange, water – blue, fire – red, and air – white.

 Lastly, the logo loosely references the wonderful Indigenous stencil art created by splattering paint over a hand placed on the wall. I’ve always loved those images.

 A final word