Alright, let’s talk about this “Cousin Hub” logo situation I got myself into. It all started pretty casually, as these things often do with family.
Getting the Ask
My cousin, bless their heart, got this idea for some kind of online get-together spot, a ‘hub’ for all the cousins, you know? Sounded nice. Then came the inevitable: “Hey, you’re kinda good with computers, right? Could you whip up a quick logo for Cousin Hub?” Famous last words. ‘Whip up’ and ‘quick’ usually mean the opposite when family asks.
Figuring Out What “Cousin Hub” Even Means Visually
So, I sat down. First thing, what does ‘Cousin Hub’ look like? My brain immediately went to cheesy stuff. Like, uh:
- A weirdly drawn family tree? Nah, too complicated.
- Interlocking circles? A bit corporate maybe?
- Something that looked like a house or a meeting spot? Maybe.
I sketched a few things on paper. Just rough scribbles. Most looked pretty bad, not gonna lie. It’s harder than it looks to make something simple that actually says ‘cousins’ and ‘hub’ without being totally lame.
Firing Up the Tools (and Failing a Bit)
I decided to try putting some ideas onto the screen. Didn’t use anything fancy, just messed around with some free online design tool I found. Picked a few fonts. Tried some colors. My first few attempts? Terrible. Seriously, they looked like something from the early internet days. One looked like a weird blob, another just had clashing colors. Sent a couple over to my cousin. Feedback was vague, as expected. “Hmm, maybe something… friendlier?” or “Can we try different colors?”. Super helpful.
Getting Somewhere Finally
Okay, deep breath. Back to basics. I decided to focus on the ‘hub’ idea but keep it warm and family-oriented. I ditched the complex drawings and went for simple shapes. Maybe overlapping shapes to show connection? I played around with some rounded squares or circles, kind of merging together. For colors, I picked something warm, like a friendly orange or maybe a calm blue, nothing too loud.
Then the text. Finding a font that was readable but also informal and welcoming took a bit. Didn’t want anything too stiff or too silly. Found one that seemed okay, kinda rounded and clear.
The Back-and-Forth
Sent the new version over. This time, it was closer. “Oh, I like that direction!” Okay, progress. Then came the small tweaks. “Can the orange be a bit brighter?” “Can ‘Hub’ be slightly bigger than ‘Cousin’?” Little things. We went back and forth maybe two or three times. It wasn’t too painful, mostly just fine-tuning.
Wrapping It Up
Finally, we landed on something everyone was happy enough with. It wasn’t exactly a masterpiece of graphic design, let’s be real. But it looked decent. Clean, simple, got the idea across. I saved it as a PNG with a transparent background, like they asked, and maybe a JPG too. Sent the files over.
And done. Phew. Making logos isn’t really my day job, and doing favors for family always feels like walking a tightrope. But hey, they were happy, the Cousin Hub has its little badge now, and I guess I learned a bit more about patience. Another little project crossed off the list.
