From Coursekit to
Lore

2012 04 23

In the spirit of learning & sharing that we endeavor to promote through our product, we’d like to share our logo design process.
Enjoy,
Aaron Carámbula
Creative Director, Lore
New York

Identity Design Team
Joseph Cohen
Co-founder and CEO

Aaron Carámbula
Creative Director

Matt Delbridge
Designer

Brief

Strategic Goals:
Convey our ambition to be a great learning brand; at once a publishing platform, social network, and technology company.

Design Goals:
Create a mark we can grow into and which can grow with us.

Values

Attributes

Be an Artist
Learn
Invent
Break Rules
Own
Hack
Focus
Play Offense
Think Big
Push
We

Simple
Sophisticated
Witty & Colloquial
Approachable
Quality

Cube Redux

There is much to love about the Coursekit Cube our friend Ed Nacional designed for us and we worked to evolve it in some meaningful way. Ultimately, however, the kit implied by the box embodies the constraints of our old name.

Technology Platform

We see Lore as a platform for great content to be shared and consumed, removing the technological barrier to teaching and learning. While our platform is open for all to use, we see traditional book publishers and their imprints as predecessors and were inspired by their imprints as symbols of quality.

The Natural Solution

After studying, sketching, and striving, we were satisfied that we should embrace the simplest, most natural solution to this design challenge. I returned to a sketch from the first time Joe introduced me to the new name.

Inspired Modularity

On a trip to art and design nerd nirvana, Marfa, Texas, I drew the above in the dust on our rental car. Inspired by the endless train cars, modular in nature, their iconic logos, this letterform's geometry, purity, balance, and character made for the most compelling stacked type.

Our New Mark

We love this mark because it has power through combining fundamental elements and represents our belief in challenging norms—a square peg in a round hole.

Ready to Work

This mark has DNA from our predecessors—publishers of great thinking and innovators in technology for education. We're aware that we stand on the shoulders of giants as we strive to build products that change the way the world learns.

12 With respect.

From Coursekit to Lore