ABOUT THE DALAI LAMA FOUNDATION LOGO

The Dalai Lama Foundation Logo was a gift from designer Jack Schaub (Schaub&Company) and artist Georgia Deaver (www.jaznjaz.com). Jack was responsible for the design, and Georgia for the creation of the original hand drawn, ink-on-paper illustration of the bird.

Here are Jack’s words about the logo.

We have created a logo that visually represents the core values of The Dalai Lama Foundation. It is a bird of peace, hand drawn using the traditional media of classical calligraphy – ink and brush on paper. The bird is poised on an olive branch.

The bird and typographic presentation of The Dalai Lama Foundation merge into a unified presentation. The stacked version, below, has the aspect ratio of a perfect square:

The horizontal version of the logo is used on the Website:

The bird’s body suggests the shape of a heart. Its wings are alive and animated. She could be just landing, or flapping her wings to take flight. The curve of the olive branch is suggestive of the curve of the earth. So the bird, while possibly preparing to take flight is also stable and well grounded suggestive of the time when the Buddha reached down to touch the ground in determination of his commitment, and his right in the face of distraction and illusion, to attain enlightenment.

The bird represents a celebration of the potential, the value, and the love inherent in all sentient beings.

The overall shape of the bird somewhat echoes that of the American bald eagle which is associated with strength and war. While this bird is not about war, neither is it by any means weak.

The typeface is Trajan. The words “Dalai Lama Foundation” are typeset in all caps at close to the same size for equal emphasis. The “D” and “L” of “Dalai Lama” are slightly larger for improved readability and for aesthetics.