Magick & Meaning: The Hidden Arts in Logo Design

Branding, particularly logo design, involves distilling complex concepts into elegant expressions that resonate across different contexts. Our explorative approach ventures into the realm of symbolism—where meaning emerges at the intersection of diverse visual languages.

Meaning exists inherently in all visual elements. Colors, shapes, and patterns carry associations that transcend cultural boundaries, connecting to our shared human experience through history, myth, and folklore embedded in our collective consciousness.

For instance, colors have a psychological influence on us. Blue instills trust. Green connotes nature and healing. Red is passionate. Purple is luxurious.

Shapes communicate through a language more ancient than words. From the directional energy of the arrow hidden in the FedEx logo to complex sacred geometries, visual forms connect design to our innate pattern recognition systems.

Magick—the art of working with natural forces to achieve transformation—provides rich exploratory territory for design. As a creative methodology, it reveals connections between seemingly separate worlds, often leading to unexpected synchronicities in the design process.

Alchemy represents the transformative process of revealing extraordinary potential within ordinary elements. This mirrors our creative approach—discovering the hidden magic that exists at the intersection of different symbolic traditions.

The alchemical principle 'Solve et Coagula' ('dissolve and reconstitute') perfectly describes our brand development process: deconstructing elements to their essence before rebuilding them into elevated form, revealing deeper connections and meanings.

The Motherhaus logo itself bridges multiple symbolic traditions. Our 'M' takes the form of the rune Ehwaz, symbolizing transition, forward movement, and positive change. The 'O' with its central dot—the circumpunct—represents the alchemical symbol for gold, the astrological symbol for the sun, and the concept of wholeness. Together, these elements form a visual expression of transformation and illumination—the core of our explorative approach.

Our approach to logo design involves exploring the unique intersections where a brand's values, heritage, and aspirations meet. By venturing into these spaces between worlds, we discover authentic symbolic expressions.

Symphonic Capital exemplifies our explorative approach. This financial management firm's identity needed to reflect their unique positioning: combining technical precision with artistic virtuosity and intellectual depth.

The resulting logo bridges different worlds—finance and classical music—through a design inspired by Bach's musical notation and Fibonacci sequences that guide market analysis, creating a visual identity authentic to their approach.

Discovery begins with exploration. Learning that Symphonic's founder was also a concert pianist who found inspiration in Bach's counterpoint revealed an opportunity to create meaningful connections between musical structure and financial analysis.

Research uncovers hidden connections. The Bach Motif—where Bach's name can be spelled with musical notes—provided a perfect metaphor for the firm's analytical approach, creating a bridge between classical music and financial markets.

Exploration involves visualization. By translating musical notation into wavelength patterns, we began to see how sound, mathematics, and visual design could converge in a single symbolic expression.

The process of isolation allows us to examine individual elements before recombining them. This analytical stage mirrors the firm's approach to market evaluation.

Mathematical relationships create meaningful connections. Aligning the wave endpoints with Fibonacci values—key markers in financial analysis—created a symbol that authentically represented the firm's methodology.

Refinement transforms analytical elements into emotional experiences. By modifying the strokes to evoke musical notation, we created a visual representation that bridges technical precision with artistic expression.

Proportion creates harmony. Applying the Golden Ratio to the final logo lockup ensured mathematical precision while creating visual balance—mirroring the firm's approach to financial management.

The completed identity system bridges multiple worlds—finance, classical music, mathematical precision, and artistic expression—creating an authentic visual representation of Symphonic Capital's unique approach to investment.

Next, I want to show you how to bring some magick into your own life. I’m going to teach you how to make a sigil.A sigil is like a magical logo.It is a symbol you create with the intention of changing your reality in accordance with your will.

The type of sigil I’m going to demonstrate uses a traditional approach involving letter forms. When my neighbors’ dog died a few years ago, I wanted to make a tribute to her. For inspiration, here is the deck where she hung out and the view. Her name was CHARLI

I’ve been making Talismans and Sigils for many years and usually use a classic sigil building technique which converts the letter forms of a message or intention into an abstract symbol. They’re like magical logos.
 For this talisman, I started by writing out the intention “Charlie is at peace”

Then I removed all the vowels.

Then I removed any repeating consonants ( in this case an extra “C”)

This left a string of non-repeating consonants. Now come the fun part: taking the shapes, curves, and angles of these letterforms and merging them into an abstract symbol.

I often start with a circle, as I like how it contains the energy of the intention.

The C can be referenced in this initial circle.

Here’s the H

And now the R. Notice the golden ratio in the spacing.

Now the L

An S, again using the spirals of the golden ratio

The T

And the P

With the swirls of the S, I saw waves, and thought of Charli’s view from her deck overlooking the ocean. I extended the line to emphasise the horizon and then added a sun to represent the sunrise in the east.

An additional angled line conveys the suns movement and the passage of time.

I then decided to try filling in the sections with colours corresponding to the four elements: First there is Sun and Fire

Sea and Water

Sky and Air

Mountain and Earth With the addition of the green, I noticed something magical. The shape is very similar to the silhouettes of Lions Head and Table Mountain, which lie directly behind Charli’s deck.

I gave the sigil to our neighbors as a gift and it happened that the daughter had been thinking about getting a tattoo in tribute to Charli. This sigil for Charli is now at her ankle.