People often tell me that I’m not as scary as my name would lead them to believe. Take it up with my son, as he was the one who named me. When I was just starting to think about a blog, Ben was two and going through a big scaredy-cat phase. He had just seen some Disney movie and was afraid of everything: His room, his car-seat, his brother… and me. The moment he uttered “Scary Mommy”– and once I saw that the .com was available– I knew that I had my blog name.
I immediately put my graphic design training to work, and starting identifying the characteristic that was most me. It’s usually a pretty good place to start. The choice was obvious: My hair. It’s big and unruly and problematic and just always an issue.
The logical image for me was some type of Medusa character. I could get across myself, along with the nasty, edgy side of motherhood that I sought to portray.
The problem was, that it looked too much like me. I wanted an image that would appeal to all of the scary mommies out there, not just the crazy, curly haired minority.
So, I found an image of a lion and built the design around him.
I softened them up with some ornamental frills and added a star and some bloody gore to provide a backdrop for the text. Next, I added depth by putting several layers of splatters over the whole thing and topped the image with a crown. Naturally.
The next step was the hardest. I’m kind of a font freak and wanted the perfect one: Something that was bold, but unusual. Legible, but not too simple. It’s not as easy as it sounds. I turned to luggage labels, which I always love, for inspiration and saw the same type of lettering repeated over and over again.
Once I found a similar font, it pulled everything together for me. It was never a question what color the lettering would be- pink had to make an appearance somewhere, after all. A sunburst in the back tied in the new color and that was that.
So, there you have it: Scary Mommy, deconstructed.
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A deconstruction of the creative mind. Interesting! :)
http://www.pampersandpinot.com
All of this time and I never once noticed those were lions on either side. How lame am I?
Julie recently posted..Escape to the Beach
Nobody noticed them– even my husband had never seen them before. So funny!
I was about to say the same thing! During your Blogher talk, Safire and I leaned over to each other and said, “Wow! I’ve never noticed there were lions!” How many times I’ve looked at your logo, I don’t know. It’s funny when details are so subtle that they are overlooked, yet when they are pointed out, they’re so obvious!
Lolli recently posted..Gold Mine Giddy – GMYBS-PSF
That is sooo funny! I never noticed the lions either. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one!
Jennifer recently posted..I’m Exhausted
Oh, I did not notice them either! I was thinking at first how did you get your logo from a lion pic, lol!! It looks great though!!
Hanan recently posted..Hello Friday!
Chalk me up as another person who DID NOT see the lions. :) So funny. Now I can’t NOT see them.
(I’ve always loved your logo. I need one. Since 2005 I’ve been saying that. LOL.)
deb recently posted..busy day
I never noticed them before either!
WebSavvyMom recently posted..Flashback Friday Part 67 – Join the Union
Very interesting. It is a very cool logo. Like something you would see on a concert tee shirt.
Scary Mommy rocks Baltimore!
Love the logo. Very distinctive and hard to forget. However, like Julie above I never even realized there were lions in there before!
Dalia recently posted..The boogyman IRL in real life
I’ve always loved your logo because as Saucy said, it reminds me more of a designer Tshirt than a blog. I had no idea you did it yourself. Way cool.
gigi recently posted..KludgyLand- The Tour
I need to get some t-shirts printed. It’s always on my list of to-dos. :)
Definately get some t-shirts made. I would buy one.
You did this yourself?!? Amazing…and this seems to be a common theme but I never noticed the lions…and I thought I was detail oriented, sigh.
Yuliya recently posted..Six months
Seriously, nobody did. It’s so funny, because they are the first thing I see!
From one curly-haired girl to another I can relate to your hair woes! But I think you look great, whereas I am just a mess regardless.
Love the post and I love your logo.
Ameena recently posted..Los Angeles’ Finest
I really like this! It’s helpful in many ways:) I enjoyed your description of how you came up with your blog name. I don’t know how old your son is but believe me, you will get scarier as they get into their teen years. I know whereof I speak.
So now all you have to do is get it tattooed on you some where.
No, now you have to get SOMEONE ELSE to get it tattooed somewhere. That’s how you know you’ve made it.
Suzanne recently posted..1 minute 31 seconds of toddler fun
So true. Any takers?
I never noticed the lions till now!
Really enjoyed your presentation at BlogHer and like everyone else, never noticed those lions until you pointed them out!!
Theta Mom recently posted..More Rocks in My Jellies
As a fellow graphic designer, I really enjoyed this post. I’ve always loved seeing the way other people go through their artistic process
For what is worth I love your hair. And the logo to ofcourse, sa va sans dire.
Gosh, I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I never noticed the two lions on either side. My eye has always been drawn to the font, the crown, and the sunburst. I wonder what else I’ve been missing?
Lynn from For Love or Funny recently posted..This is why my pockets are full of fur
What first caught my eye was the swirls and the crown. May be because I always tell my kids that “This isn’t a democracy. It is an aristocracy, and I am the queen.!”
Also It is nice to see how another mind thinks. Thanks for the insight.
Tracy Sohl recently posted..Life is about Choices
I always thought your logo was like a blood splatter. That’s why I’ve been staying on your good side all these years.
Marinka recently posted..Baby Talk
Would you believe that I never noticed the 2 lions before!?!!? How creative!! I think that a great logo for your blog speaks volumes. I have a marketing degree, and when I started blogging, I knew that I needed to find something recognizable–and since it couldn’t be a catchy jingle, it needed to be a logo.
Chrissy MacCEO recently posted..Saturday Snap-Cup
How cool! I’m redoing my site right now and this was very helpful. From one font freak to another, thanks.
dusty earth mother recently posted..Beware of Senior Citizens on Jet Skis
I have always been intrigued by your logo. My husband is a graphics artist & it really is interesting to hear your “mind work” <– cause mine does not at all work like that ;)
Devan @ Accustomed Chaos recently posted..Mommy Blogger – Whats In A Name
Okay I have always loved the lions. I am one of those annoying people that notice everything and drive even myself crazy. Love it!
brittany at mommy words recently posted..Pre-Schoolers Dream of Being Princesses
I love how you broke this down! I always wondered how you came up with such a unique logo!
I am too lazy- I went into my garden and took a pic of my sunflower! Haha!
Kelly recently posted..A New Movement- Blog it Forward! Are you in
You are so creative! I envy anyone with graphic design talents. Well done!
Jodi recently posted..Senior Friendship Shoot
Never noticed the lions until now! But I love your description of how you came up with your logo :)
Stacey recently posted..Random Friday
Man, here I was thinking I was not observant enough about those lions but I see no one else noticed them either! As a designer myself, I love hearing the thought process of designing your logo.
Oh and I’m a big font freak too. I freak people out because I’ll be out and about and will randomly say “oh they’re using Helvetica!” or “God no, please no more Comic Sans.” Haha.
Melissa (adventuroo) recently posted..Joy in the Ordinary- the Every Day and Folding Clothes with Milk Stains
As most others, I also never noticed the lions. So much so that when I quickly scanned with post and saw the pictures of the lion I was really quite confused. I got the medusa but was lost at the lions. Five hours later the mystery was revealed (that’s how long it took from first clicking on the link to actual having the 5 minutes necessary to read it!!)
Thanks for sharing the deconstruction. I actually found it really interesting. It’s neat learning how things are created!!
Naomi recently posted..Wordless Wednesday – Hot Chocolate Fall Out
I can’t believe I never noticed the lions until I heard you at your keynote! So cool. Love you!
How cool! I never really thought of it like that.
I too never noticed the lions but I love them and now they are all I see, lol! I love your logo, it’s so cool. Just like you. OK, stopping now…about to get all scary reader fan on you.
Your Mommy Friend Lori recently posted..Meet the Teacher- Worlds Most Important First Date
I saw your presentationat BlogHer10 and also enjoyed reading it here! Thanks for stopping by my site and reading myh “Joy” post!
I had to actually take a second look to notice the lions. LOL. So cool!
Inadvertently Domesticated recently posted..Blinks- City Lights 2
Nicely done! I am not a designer and do not have a real creative bone in me but even I can get stressed out when I am choosing font for my pseudo-photoshopping effort. There are just so many choices out there and it is overwhelming!
subwow recently posted..Sundays in My City – Jump!
Love your logo… it’s one of my favorites. Trying to work on mine but that will require professional help since my creativity lies elsewhere.
Funny I never even noticed the two creatures heads/tongues out on the side.
It’s an awesome logo and definitely unique!
Raquel recently posted..Tanning Tax Dooms Tanning BusinessesReally
I loved reading about how your logo evolved!
angie recently posted..Fabulous Twisted Silver 120 Giveaway!
I always wanted curly hair!
Count me in the school who never noticed the lions. And isn’t it funny about fonts–you never notice them either… unless they’re bad and then that’s all you notice.
It really is a great logo!
Now I know what you and Kalah were talking about. I think I noticed the lions at some point before you wrote this, but since I read her comment before I read this post I can’t say for sure. I’ve always thought that it is a fantastic logo though!
Rachel recently posted..Surprise
Totally love it! Great to see the process behind the logo! :)
Ha! I DID notice the lions when I first found you on Twitter!!! How cool am I???!! Your logo is actually what made me click on you, so props on the attention getting logo. This post is a great breakdown of your creative process, thanks for sharing it with us!
Eve (Beautiful Spit Up) recently posted..It’s Cool To Be A Daddy
Super cool!!!! So glad it got your attention. :)
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