Zebra Eclipse’s Edinburgh Reviews blog, which has a studio of accompanying social media profiles, officially introduces a new logo design as the Scottish capital opens for the festival season.
Designed and illustrated by Bronwen Winter Phoenix, our Creative Director, the logo shows two figures coming together in a welcome embrace, and at least one of the silhouettes is non-human. They are, in fact, a urisk and a green maiden.
Bronwen is an Edinburgh-based artist, Galaxy Award-nominated author, a content marketing agency leader and an experienced journalist.
“I asked a lot of Bronwen”, concedes Girdy, “Avoiding some of the typical Scottish and Edinburgh cliches of Saltires and castles was important. I also wanted something that felt positive and represented Edinburgh at its best. At its best, Edinburgh is a wholesome, diverse and welcoming city. That’s not all. I also wanted a logo design that would work on merch and be readily identifiable on social media.”
One of the two figures, known as the urisk, has antler-like horns angled backwards from a bearded face. It’s an outline that invokes mythology and folklore from Scotland’s Celtic roots. The rise in digital storytelling might yet turn the tide of Scottish folklore traditions dying out.
“I’m incredibly pleased with the design,” Girdy continued. “We wanted to avoid tripes and stereotypes with the identities in the logo, but I worried a Beltane figure, fairy or Cernunnos figure would be too complex or intricate. Bronwen has found elegance in simplicity, and the urisk with a green maiden is all that and more.”
Edinburgh Reviews’ new logo is available with a “Not an influencer” slogan or without on a new Redbubble store. Edinburgh Reviews often eschews some “influencer” tactics of charging for coverage. Instead, the blog writes reviews or publishes videos for free and earns money through affiliate marketing, merch and bespoke deals. Our opinions cannot be bought.
