A Thousand Footprints Logo Variations

To me, the best part about being a designer is getting the opportunity to learn new things! There honestly is never a dull moment in design and that’s why I love what I do so much!

A friend of mine had reached out to me about creating a logo design for a travel agency named A Thousand Footprints whose social media account she’d been managing. I was really excited and honored that she asked me to create something for her client! I had a blast working with them and am so happy I got to learn so much during the process. While the logo was never finalized due to a change in management, I thought I’d still create a post about this awesome experience and the work that came from it!

Lemiya, the Founder of A Thousand Footprints, had been heavily inspired by the story of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim scholar who took a world wide tour and transformed himself in the process of his travels. His story of finding insight about himself while also leaving behind his mark at every place he visited inspired her and thus was born the name of her company. Lemiya’s client base was mainly 45-55 year old Americans of Asian and Arabic descent. She wanted a logo that was elegant and incorporated Arabic calligraphy.

In Arabic, A Thousand Footprints can be written quite a few ways, with each way having a slightly different meaning. We did extensive research to see which written version was the one Lemiya felt best fit her brand. One version had a religious meaning, the revolved around the idea of leaving a legacy behind. The second version focused on bringing light to the lessons and interactions one has, or the act of giving and taking. Below, I have my notes on the different ways it could be written as well as the meanings behind them along with some sketches.

While doing some research on Arabic calligraphy, I found that often people created shapes out of the calligraphic fonts. These are so beautiful and elaborate and eventually that’s all my Pinterest was recommending to me! After playing around with different shapes and designs, we narrowed down the font to be designed into the shape of a circle. Below are the different logo variations that we came up with.

Never in a million years did I think I’d ever be working with Arabic calligraphy, but sometimes life throws you unexpected surprises. It was such an amazing experience getting to work with Lemiya. I learned so much from her and I’m honored that I was able to spend some time working on such a beautiful project.