Seeds of Renaissance · logo workbench · 13 Oct 2026

Seeds of Renaissance mark, variants

The current mark on every ground it has to work on, then the current swallow at a range of bigger sizes in the ring. Earlier tries (a rougher edge and three other birds) are kept below for reference.

1. Current mark

Separated into its two inks (red fingerprints, black swallow) so each version has a transparent background and can sit on any ground.

Colour · on white

Black · on white

White · on black

Colour, dark · red prints, white swallow

On its disc · the current rule for dark grounds

Transparent PNG · check the cut

2. The current swallow, bigger

The original bird, unchanged in shape and direction, scaled up about its own centre. Fingerprints that would touch it are removed whole, so the ring opens up around it rather than being clipped. Choose a size to see it on every ground.

Mark in colour on white — **Colour** · on white · +30%

Mark in black on white — **Black** · on white

Mark in white on black — **White** · on black

Mark with red prints and white swallow on black — **Colour, dark** · red prints, white swallow

Now

Bigger bird · follows the size chosen

3. Bigger bird, keeping the fingerprints

In section 2, every print the bigger bird touches is deleted, so the inner rings thin out. These three methods keep the prints.

Deleted. As in section 2, for comparison.
Pushed out. Each print in the way slides outward along its own ray until it's clear. None are lost; a few pile up, as real stamping would.
Bird in front. Every print stays where it was, and the bird sits on top with a thin white gap cut around it, flying through the prints.
Pushed a little, then in front. Prints can move only a short way. Any still in the way are cut by the white gap. The prints come right up to the bird.

Method

Bird size

Now · for comparison

Bigger bird in colour on white — **Colour** · on white

Bigger bird in black on white — **Black** · on white

Bigger bird in white on black — **White** · on black

Bigger bird with red prints and white swallow on black — **Colour, dark** · red prints, white swallow

Now

This version · follows the choice above

4. +30%, rougher bird, prints kept

The bird 30% bigger, with the cut-and-printed edge, and the fingerprints kept using the methods from section 3. The other edges are here to compare. The close-up shows the edge at three times the size.

Edge

Prints

Now · for comparison

New mark in colour on white — **Colour** · on white

Close-up of the bird's edge — **Close-up** · the edge, 3×

New mark in black on white — **Black** · on white

New mark in white on black — **White** · on black

New mark with red prints and white swallow on black — **Colour, dark** · red prints, white swallow

Now

This version · follows the choice above

5. Small sizes: the simplification ladder

Starting from #4, each step makes the prints fewer, bolder and further apart, so the mark survives at small sizes. The idea is a family: the full mark large, a simpler step for avatars, the simplest for favicons. Use the tests to choose which step works at which size.

#4. As chosen: rough bird +30%, all prints.
A. Pale prints faded out. Only the strong reds stay, made more solid.
B. Outer rings only. A, without the crowd of prints right around the bird.
C. About 40 bold prints in two rings, still with fingerprint texture.
D. 20 bigger prints in two rings. Smooth bird with a slightly thicker tail, so it doesn't break up.
E. 12 solid dots in one ring. The bird bigger again.
F. A solid red ring. The simplest possible: for favicons only.

Ground

Test

	176	96	64	48	32	24	16 px

In a feed

How each step reads next to text at the sizes social apps use for channel and comment avatars.

Earlier try: the current swallow with a rougher edge

Same bird, same direction. Its perfectly smooth vector edge is what makes it feel commercial, so each treatment breaks that edge in a different way, the way a cut block or a print would. Fingerprints that would touch the bigger bird are removed whole, not clipped.

Knife-cut. The outline redrawn as short straight facets, like a blade going through lino. The scallops on the wing stay.
Ink bleed. The edge pushed slightly in and out, like ink spreading on paper from a block. The same quality as the fingerprints.
Cut and printed. Both together: facets, then a lighter bleed.
Carved line. Cut and printed, plus a broken white line carved just inside the edge, a common woodcut device.
Grain. Cut and printed, plus a few thin white grain marks across the thick parts.

Current swallow, smooth — **Now** · smooth

Swallow with knife-cut facets — **Knife-cut**

Swallow with ink-bleed edge — **Ink bleed**

Swallow cut and printed — **Cut and printed**

Swallow with a carved inner line — **Carved line**

Edge

Bird size

Now

This version · follows the choice above

Earlier try: swallow C, the pencil sketch

The lower bird of the two-swallow sketch. Background removed and the exact outline filled solid black. It already flies up to the right, so it isn't turned. The ragged trailing edge of the near wing comes straight from the pencil feathers.

Source pencil sketch of a swallow climbing to the right — **Source** · pencil sketch

Swallow C filled solid black — **Solid** · transparent background

Swallow C in white on black — **Solid, white** · on black

Bird size

Swallow C mark in colour on white — **Colour** · on white

Swallow C mark in black on white — **Black** · on white

Swallow C mark in white on black — **White** · on black

Swallow C mark with red prints and white swallow on black — **Colour, dark** · red prints, white swallow

Now

Swallow C · follows the size above

Swallow C · on night

Earlier try: swallow A, the engraving

Source: Rawpixel public-domain engraving no. 6304685. Background removed, every white area inside the outline filled so it reads as one black shape, mirrored to fly left to right, then rotated nose-up.

Original engraving of a swallow flying left — **Source** · engraving, flying left

Solid swallow climbing at 25 degrees — **Solid** · climbing 25°

Solid swallow climbing at 35 degrees — **Solid** · climbing 35°

Solid swallow climbing at 45 degrees — **Solid** · climbing 45°

Engraved swallow with line texture, 35 degrees — **Engraved** · lines kept, 35° (for comparison)

White solid swallow on black — **Solid, white** · on black

Earlier try: swallow A in the ring

A quick placement, not a final composition: the bird is dropped into the existing ring at the same spot as the old one.

Climb angle

Earlier try: swallow B, the top-left bird

From the three-swallows image. Filled solid, background removed, mirrored to fly right. Its own pose already climbs, so the angle here is extra tilt on top of that. The source is small (about 140 px), so the edge is smoothed; a final version needs redrawing as a vector.

Source swallow, flying left — **Source** · top-left bird, flying left

Swallow B solid, no extra tilt — **Solid** · mirrored, no extra tilt

Swallow B solid, tilted 15 degrees — **Solid** · +15°

Swallow B solid, tilted 30 degrees — **Solid** · +30°

Extra tilt

Swallow B mark in colour on white — **Colour** · on white

Swallow B mark in black on white — **Black** · on white

Swallow B mark in white on black — **White** · on black

Swallow B mark with red prints and white swallow on black — **Colour, dark** · red prints, white swallow

Earlier tries, small

Avatar sizes: 176, 98, 48 and 24 px on the white disc. The small mark is still its own job (see logo-v2.md).

Current

Swallow A · follows the angle above

Swallow B · follows its tilt above

Current · on night

Swallow A · on night

Swallow B · on night