Significance of color and logo?

[sandy]

To the "oldest-timers" here...

I think I remember Anne saying that the "swish"/the Preeclampsia Foundation logo was not meant to be anything in particular...

Or am I remembering incorrectly?

Just curious to know the significance of the logo and how it came to be...and why the color blue was chosen. Or even if it was all just sort of random.

Thank you.

[laura]

I think you're right, Sandy! I think the logo doesn't specify anything specifically, but was designed to 'go with' the website design. Anne's been hanging around these days, maybe she'll pop in and clarify!

[Dawn D]

I'm not one of the "oldest timers" and certainly not the best qualified to answer you, but I did ask the same question a few months back when I was looking to use the logo for the PA golf fundraiser.

Eleni had forwarded info to me regarding the guidlines for using - or altering the logo (which you aren't supposed to do). These guidlines came from an actual graphic/design company with very formal restrictions on the logo use. I believe that the symbol and colors were selected simply because they were universal in the printing world and easily reproducable in their original (unaltered) form - or in black and white. Interestingly, the guidline information even states that the logo is not to ever appear on a dark background (ex: like on signs or t-shirts etc). And as Laura said, I don't think the swoosh symbol has any specific meaning.

Anyway, just sharing what info I had on the issue. Obviously Anne and board members would have more accurate info. Take care!

[sandy]

thanks, you two. one of the people on the SD '07 WAT committee asked this question of me and i didn't have the answer. then i became really curious, so that's the reason i asked.

good to know!

[annegarrett]

Well, this is actually something I KNOW the answer to! The logo was designed by my giving Hannah Wygal, the designer, a pretty strong idea of what we wanted. Hannah is the owner of Monster Design. I looked at other websites that I liked and that were for areas of work like our own--in particular the Gates Foundation website. So I chose the colors (I wanted pink and blue but not too pink and too blue as to be cutsy, so Hannah suggested these colors) and then I said I wanted something symbolic that suggested "the circle of life". She experimented with some sumi brush strokes and we liked this one the best because we thought it looked like a baby inside a womb. The font was picked because I really liked the Gates Foundation's logo and this was the same font they used: Garamond. The work was donated (worth thousands if we would have had to pay for it) and as mentioned, we cannot mess with it. In an effort to establish a "look" we need to always use the same font, the same colors, and the logo as is. I know Hannah didn't think it would work in reverse as well but we did try some other color combos (mustard and black, no less) and needless to say, liked this one the best. Monster Design are phenomenal designers and work for some very high powered folks. We were lucky to get something so high quality donated. Their website is www.monsterinvasion.com :) The name was decided on after days and days and days of trying to be creative, including "Maternal Alliance" (MA) and HIP MAMAs (Hypertension in Pregnancy, Maternal Alliance for Medical Advancement through Science) AND my personal favorite, the Ilythia Foundation. Ilythia was the goddess of safe pregnancy. One of my good friends, Angela DeMoore, said "can you imagine anyone with a lisp trying to say that?" We decided it was impossible to spell and harder to say, soooo I caved and in the end we decided we should name it after what it was: preeclampsia. Fortunately for you all, I didn't learn that St. Anne was the patron saint of laboring mothers until just recently--or we'd be stuck with the St. Anne Foundation. How's that for way too self-important! (And as I mentioned to Laura, recently found out that the Greek Orthodox celebrate her feast day on September 9th which is the day I had my son Gabriel and so the PF's official "birthday". (It's the thing that started all this...)woo--ee--ooo

Thanks for asking. It's good to get the history documented. So yeah, technically, the logo doesn't mean anything specifically but I like to think it is a baby in the womb. :)

[sandy]

Very interesting. Thanks for the full explanation, Anne. I like to think of it as a baby in the womb, too. A baby with promise and hope. :)