The Forge
A logo, a ten second logo animation and shirts for a podcast brand starting out: a compass, an anvil and a flame drawn as one mark, then cast in gold.
A client in the West was launching a podcast called The Forge and needed the brand from scratch. The mark combines a compass ring for direction, an anvil for work, and a flame for what gets made there. I drew it, built it in 3D for the show's opening animation, and carried it onto shirts.
- Discipline
- Brand identity, Motion design
- Client
- The Forge (podcast brand, overseas client)
- Year
- 2023
- Role
- Logo design, 3D logo animation, Merch
- Tools
- Illustrator, After Effects, Photoshop
- Runtime
- 0:10
Logo animation Ten seconds. The ring swings past camera, the anvil lands, the flame lights.
- 00:00:14
- 00:01:16
- 00:02:14
- 00:03:19
- 00:06:00
- 00:09:04
Shallow depth of field and drifting dust sell the metal at close range.
Thought process
- 01
Start from the show
A new podcast needs to look established on day one: a mark that works as a tiny app icon, a video opener and a shirt.
- 02
Three ideas, one mark
Direction, work and what gets made: a compass ring, an anvil and a flame stacked into one symbol.
- 03
Treat it like metal
In 3D the mark became cast gold, so the animation could use light sliding across real edges.
- 04
Shoot it like an object
Shallow depth of field and drifting dust make it feel close and physical, as if a camera is moving around it.
- 05
Carry it onto cloth
The shirts keep the mark small on the front and large on the back, gold on black, so it reads from across a room.
