The Story of Connected Garuda
It is almost seven months since I stayed at home because of the Covid-19 Pandemic. As the result, the rest of my studies until graduation were entirely done at home. Nevertheless, I determined to do something, at least to prepare my working life ahead. And with a lot of that time, too, I did and created a lot of things, such as making website interfaces, designing & redesigning logos, and so on. Recently, I made a logo that can be used as a national branding for my home country, Indonesia. This post will tell you the story about “Connected Garuda”.
How did you get the idea to create the “Connected Garuda” logo?
While at home, I spent most of my time sitting in front of my laptop, doing whatever I could do with it. Aside from that, I like to do some random browsing on Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, and other websites. From this particular activity, I got an idea to create the “Connected Garuda” logo.
Another random thing that motivated me to create this logo is when I know the fact that some countries, like Singapore, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates, have a logo that they use as a national branding. Furthermore, some of them are using the logo as an alternate national symbol with a less-strict regulation compared with the actual national symbol.
One of the logos that became an alternate national symbol is The Lion Head Symbol of Singapore. From what I read on Singapore’s National Heritage Board website, the symbol was released in 1986 as an alternate symbol that can be used by society to show loyalty and commitment to the state. Furthermore, the symbol can be freely used compared to the flag and the national coat of arms in which have more restrictions.
Other than Singapore, countries that have a similar concept are Canada, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. Canada uses a modified word-art logo “Canada” as its federal identity, while South Korea uses a modified traditional symbol as its government logo. On the other hand, the UAE has a logo for its national branding.
From that random thing, I became motivated to create a logo for Indonesia’s national branding. When looking for inspiration, the thing that I’m looking for was a symbol or an object related to Indonesia, either official or unofficial. At the end of the process, I decided to use Garuda Pancasila, the National Emblem of Indonesia, as an inspiration and the foundation of the logo that I will make.
How was the process of designing the “Connected Garuda” logo?
One thing for sure.
I have to read (fast) related laws.
That’s right, that was the first thing I do. It’s not because of anything, but the logo that I will make is based on the Official National Emblem of Indonesia. Honestly, I was a bit afraid when designing the logo because of some things that happened in late October 2020 (the month when I released this logo). Because of that, I have to read fast two regulations about Garuda Pancasila. This early checking is not a problem for me, not at all, it’s just… The scare that was caused by some activities that happened in October 2020 and the thing that happened to the Indonesian Independence 75th Anniversary logo makes me feel uncomfortable, and that’s unfortunate.
There was no other significant hindrance apart from that uncomfortable feeling. And because of that, I dared myself to continue to design the logo. The process itself didn’t take too much time. At first, I started the design with a stroke/line element, like the one that I’ve used during the participation of making a logo for Indonesia’s Hajj Fund Management Agency. But then, I decided to use a circle or point as the base element of the logo. Finally, there it is a logo that I give the name “Connected Garuda”, or “Garuda Terkoneksi” in the Indonesian Language.
In the meantime, I also wrote a document about this logo, like I’ve done before with my other works. When creating a logo and website interfaces for JR Group and JR East, I wrote similar documents, but it was finished way after the primary works are done. Because of some concerns, such as the risk of misunderstanding and misinterpretation, I decided to write the document together with the designing process.
What’s the meaning of the “Connected Garuda” logo?
In the early stage of the designing process, I thought that I would be putting some numbers as the meaning element for the logo. Because I was thinking of the possibility of this logo being used for governmental purposes, there was a consideration to put the number of Indonesia’s ministries. But then, there was another possibility that the later government would add or abolish one institution or more. In the end, I decided to take the date and month of Indonesia’s Independence, 17 August.
From the two things that have been decided before, I used the basic element, the circle/point, and then duplicated into 17 elements to represent the date of Indonesia’s Independence. Then, I adjusted all elements to make it aligned with the shape of Garuda Pancasila. And to make it a solid form of Garuda, I also added 8 connections (of two circles), in which those represent the month of Indonesia’s Independence.
Other than 17 points and 8 connections, I also defined some meaning onto the basic element (the circle/point) and the color. The circle shape was defined as unity, while the red color, like the one being used in the National Flag of Indonesia, was defined as bravery. If combined and being defined further,
both unity and bravery are needed to bring Indonesia forward.
If being implemented, who is can use this logo?
I was thinking that the logo can be used as a regulated national branding, but not as strict as the national emblem, or any other official state symbols. That being said, the “Connected Garuda” logo can be used by all levels of society, either the Government or civilian, as well as being loosely regulated to make it easier to implement. A similar thing was done in Singapore in regulating The Lion Head Symbol. Honestly, in terms of usage regulations (if this logo is being implemented), I took so many examples from The Lion Head Symbol of the neighbor.
As seen in the picture, I put the “Connected Garuda” logo with the word “Indonesia”. Other than that, I also made a logo with words like “Government of Indonesia”, “Product of Indonesia”, as well as “Economic and Trade Office of Indonesia”. The designs that I made are based on my observation of The Lion Head of Singapore and the Canadian Federal Identity, also as an example of my statement that the logo is versatile enough to use by all levels of society.
As the Covid-19 outbreak started in Indonesia during March 2020, I was struggling hard to always be at home and creating something, while enjoying my last semester of study, looking for jobs, and fixing my portfolio. With very different mobility compared to years before (and I’m quite bothered by that), I’m quite happy that I could create something, like this “Connected Garuda” logo.
I hope that this pandemic would end soon, and life could be better after this. The pandemic is surely teaching us, society, to be careful enough. But in the future, I hope that people can be united and be brave to bring Indonesia forward.
Note: To observe further variations of use, please visit this website.
