BLACK BOUGH

The image of the Branch (Bough) perfectly sums up the function of a Music Label, the solid element that reaches out in many smaller components. The title of the Label is a reference to the Ezra Pound poem: In a Station of the Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet black bough.

Brainstorming was done to explore other things that could symbolically showcase the idea of “the big thing that branches out into smaller elements” … After much troubled sketches, it was concluded that the simplicity of having a branch as the main visual element was wanted. The human circulatory system was studied and was incorporated in the final result by tracing a path taken from a close up of a jugular vein (spreading out into smaller extensions) to act as the bough and branches. The end result gives little indication of this, but the ideas of blood, passion and life are part of the internal structure that supports the solidity of the logo.

The choice of the typeface Swift came first (bulky, geometric edges … woodcut, Swiss feel) and then the logo image was etched out of a woodblock and refined in Photoshop. We liked the look and feel of old woodblock art, but to use the thing in which was being portrayed (branch, tree, wood) in the logo legitimized our use of this method and overall aesthetic.

www.blackbough.ca