During my career I have often been required to create mockup logos for business bids. “One Young World 2023” was not one of those initially, they generally had their own branding for events but to really tie the whole bid together we felt it was a good idea to have something in place.

With no brief to speak of I wanted the One Young World logo to be clear, legible and likely take the foreground while still meshing with the overall look. My first instinct was to focus on identifiable landmarks that would be easily recognisable globally.

The first design was based on the ‘Giants Causeway’ by adopting the hexagon basalt formations found along the beautiful coastline. I kept the general design simple to not distract from the offical branding but suggested the colours be changed to adapt to different themes throughout the event.

The second and third designs were variations of a similar theme. I felt strongly that Samson & Goliath, the iconic cranes found at the Harland & Wolff shipyard, would be easily recognisable and make for an interesting design element. I was really enamoured by the idea of using the cranes as a framing device but with time constraints I couldn’t follow up on this idea but I knew there was something there worth exploring.

The final option during this phase was focussing on the Titanic Exhibit building as a clean and clear landmark. With its sharp angles mimicking the bow of the famous ship it could have evolved into some interesting markers or waypoints.

Several months after submitting our bid we found out we would have the honor of helping to host One Young World in Belfast in 2023. During the bid process one of my designs stood out and I was given the opportunity to revisit the branding. With a little more time I was able to distill my idea down a little further to the below designs.

The first option featured a solo crane and skyline combo. I had been asked to try and incorporate some of the Belfast skyline into the branding and this option was perhaps the best of what I tried but I didn’t feel that it was working, but it was interesting to try anyhow.

The second option was more what I had in mind when I began this journey, it was missing something to make it a bit more visually interesting, but I knew I was closing in on something that I would be happy with and be delighted to see all over Belfast city.

Option three was an offshoot of the second idea, using a much more stylized version of the cranes I wanted to showcase the energy of the city so I tried a more youthful font and gave the edges a more broken ‘buzzing’ or energetic look.

Unfortunately due to some unforseen circumstances I was unable to refine the design of the logo further and the task fell to McCadden design agency.

McCadden did a super job of adding required design aspects to the logo in the form of the official ‘Belfast’ logo and font while adding the extra edge I felt the cranes needed.

While I cannot deny I am upset I wasn’t part of the final steps I am pleased that conceptually my idea will be used in the upcomming event and I look forward to seeing Belfast covered in the design.