Identity study · internal · eight directions
Every mark is drawn as vector by hand, not generated, and shown at the sizes and in the places it will actually be used. Judge them small before you judge them large — the favicon and the inbox avatar are where marks fail, and four of these eight are weaker there than they look at 150px. Each direction states where it is weak, because a presentation that only argues in favour is not much use to you.
Ivo picked Polaris as the strongest of the first eight, so these are six ways of drawing the same idea. Everything else is kept below for the record.
Polaris with the waist pulled in. The points read as rays rather than lobes, which makes it feel drawn rather than clip-art. North still the longest of the four.
Where it is weak. Thinner strokes are the first thing to disappear when a mark is scaled down or printed small. This is the one to check on paper, not only on screen.
Eight points: four cardinal, four short diagonals. A compass rather than a sparkle — the most literal expression of north in the set.
Where it is weak. Eight points is a lot of detail for 16px, and it is the closest of the family to a stock icon. It has to earn its extra complexity and probably does not.
North dramatically longer than the other three. This one POINTS, where the rest merely radiate. If the brand is about direction, this is the argument.
Where it is weak. The asymmetry that makes it good also makes it awkward centred in a square avatar — it sits low and wants optical adjustment in every slot.
The same figure drawn as a line rather than a solid. Lighter, more editorial, and it sits more quietly beside text.
Where it is weak. Outlines are the classic favicon failure: at 16px the stroke and the gap it encloses fight, and the centre fills in. Judge this one at 16 before anywhere else.
Four kites with air between them, leaving a cross of negative space at the centre. The only one in the family doing something the others are not.
Where it is weak. The gaps are the idea, and gaps are exactly what small sizes and low-quality printing close up. Also the most complex path, so the most to go wrong in someone else than us.
Fatter curves, softer corners. The version that would suit a wellness client as readily as a developer — worth having, since half the pipeline is studios and salons.
Where it is weak. Softness costs precision. Next to a monospaced wordmark it reads slightly at odds with itself, and it is the least Swiss thing here.
Riser and Caret both read as houses. A chevron sitting above a horizontal bar is a roof over a wall — obvious once said, invisible while drawing it. Neither was meant to be architectural and both are, which is the kind of second reading a mark cannot outrun. Left visible below rather than deleted, because the failure is more instructive than the drawings were.
The literal reading of north, drawn as a star rather than an arrow. The north point is longer than the other three, so the mark has a direction instead of being merely symmetrical.
Where it is weak. Warmest of the set. The risk is familiarity: stars are common in tech marks, so it must be executed precisely or it looks stock.
Takes the second half of the name. A stage is a platform you stand on; the ascent above it is what a launch looks like. Stroked chevron against a solid bar so the two weights separate.
Where it is weak. Says nothing about north — either a loss or a relief, depending on how literal you want to be.
A compass needle standing on the stage. North solid, south dropped to 38% so the needle reads correctly at a glance.
Where it is weak. The tonal split is the whole idea, so it is the most fragile of the eight in one colour and at 16px. Check it there before falling for it.
A caret is north and it is also a code symbol — shell, regex, markup. The prompt underscore beneath makes the second reading explicit. Two meanings from five straight lines.
Where it is weak. The prompt dates it to software: right for a technical client, wrong for a Pilates studio in Horgen. It was also redrawn once — the first version put the cursor beside the caret and the ink measured 50x25 of a 64 box, so at favicon size the mark was six pixels tall. Proportion is not a detail at 16px.
Three risers on a baseline: growth read left to right, and a stage in literal steps. Pure rectangles, which makes it the most robust of the eight at very small sizes.
Where it is weak. Also the most generic. Bar charts are everywhere, and this is one letter away from a mobile signal icon.
A real letter N with exactly one deliberate quirk: the right stem sharpens to a north point. Letterform first, meaning second.
Where it is weak. Only works if the mark is allowed to be a letter. It cannot carry the brand alone the way an abstract mark can, and it fights the wordmark when set beside it.
The stage as a frame, with the performer breaking its top edge. A viewport — which is also what a website is. The only one in the set that is not about "up".
Where it is weak. The most abstract, so it needs the wordmark for longest. The broken top edge is delicate; below about 20px the gap closes and it reads as a plain box.
The option worth considering seriously: no symbol. The name is split by a single rule, which is the whole idea — north above the line, stage below it, and a compass needle implied without drawing one. Set in a monospaced face, which is what the work is.
Where it is weak. A wordmark cannot be an avatar. Every place that wants a square — the inbox row, the favicon, a social profile — needs a fallback, usually the first letter. And it lives or dies on the typeface, which means paying for a licence.
The same package regardless of which direction wins. Everything is vector at source, so it scales from a favicon to a printed sign without redrawing.
Two honest limits. These are constructed marks — geometry and type, not illustration. If a drawn or pictorial logo is wanted, that is a different craft and should go to an illustrator. And nobody here can tell you whether a mark is too close to an existing trademark; before registering anything, that is a question for a lawyer.