A more beautiful logo?

“Would you like to leave the logo as it is, or make it look more beautiful?"

A few weeks ago, we held the first Yellow in-person event, a Walk and Talk set in Spanish mountain range of the Sierra Gredos (also known as Rob’s home).

As part of the welcome package, we provided the participants with a few goodies. The selection included local dried figs and nuts, a pamphlet with a history of area, yellow slippers (ostensibly to keep the house clean, but mostly for a laugh), and a steel water bottle. 

We sent the logo off to the bottle manufacturer to have it laser-engraved on the bottles. A few days we received an email from them. 

They had paid attention. They noticed that the Yellow logo “does not have any straight lines”.

They asked: “Would you like us to leave it as it is, or make it look more beautiful?"

Their attention to detail was commendable, and we appreciated the question. 

But for us, it was a simple answer. 

Smooth, straight, clean lines are not necessarily better or more beautiful. In fact, things that are too straight can feel deathly and devoid of vitality. 

The Yellow logo is hand-drawn. It’s crooked and imperfect. Deliberately so. 

That’s what we love about it. And that’s what we enjoy about Yellow itself. 

In a world that demands so-called perfection, we prefer a different approach. One that is organic, rough, and messy, without being chaotic. 

It’s not only because we get a kick out of being a “counter-space” to what’s typically on offer in most of the world. It’s because we believe in the value of roughness for its own sake. Yellow is a place where people can mess around with ideas and identities, and dig into the weeds and the roots of who they are. 

So, dear manufacturer, thank you very much for your attention to detail. 

But we’d like to keep the logo as it is.

We like to think there’s more beauty that way.