And so finally, I believe that it is time to announce the winner of the logo competition for Project Seres, and to thank not only the designers that submitted their ideas but everyone who gave their thoughts, comments and feedbacks on the various logos that were received – your time is deeply appreciated.

Through the online design competition, I received many great designs and ideas for the Seres logo and (as you can see from a previous blog) I opened this up to friends and family to help me find the right design. However despite all the feedback and discussions that I had with people over the designs, it was proving difficult to choose a final one. On the day that the decision (still pending) had to be made, I received an email through the blog from an artist that wanted to make a design submission. Although it was late, I decided to have a look anyway and started to read through the email that the artist (Jeremy) had sent. As I read – before even looking at the design – I began to experience that same feeling that I had when the Seres name revealed itself to me. The best way I can describe it is like remembering something that you always knew, or that excitement you get when you find something for which you have been searching for a long time. Reading through Jeremy’s email, I knew that it was the design for Project Seres.

I would like to try and share a little of that experience with you here, and also a little of the creative rationale behind the design that made me decide to chose it.

(Jeremy) “After I read the meaning of the word Seres, I got the idea of a tree within an evolving loop, like a cycle but also an evolution at the same time – something that starts off as little parts and evolves into something greater, which is the feeling that I get reading these initial stages of your project…this is going to evolve into something great” (Thanks Jeremy!)

It was good to hear these words. They echo the thoughts that I have been having as I have been pondering over the best strategy in which  I can move the project forward with the limited resources that I have available, while still working towards the bigger picture to build the Seres College. Piece by piece, project by project – I like this rationale.

The description Jeremy gave also struck me for another reason. I have recently started studying the Mayan culture and tradition in order to better understand the people that I am working with here in Guatemala, and last night started reading a book about the Mayan Calendar – which plays a pivotal role in the Mayan life. The words that Jeremy used to describe the design – “cycle, but also evolution” – are almost exactly the words that were used to describe the Mayan Calendars view of time and history.  A nice coincidence.

The tree that Jeremy decided to use for the design is the Ceiba tree, the national tree of Guatemala and – as it so happens – one of the most beautiful trees that I have ever met. He described them as having “huge buttress roots and a spreading canopy”, to which I would add “a magestic quality that demands respect, while at the same time lending itself always to be climbed, explored and experienced”. These trees are incredible, and whenever I come across one they never fail to make me stop and appreciate all that they are.

Jeremy also told me that in his research he discovered that to the Mayan civilization, this tree represented the “Central World Tree” – “a magic tree that connects the underworld and the sky with this plane of existence”. I had never previously heard about the World Tree, however on the same night that I read about Mayan Calendar I also learnt about the World Tree for the first time. In the book that I am reading, the World Tree is described as “the source of all life, human beings included, that has turned this earth into a living, pulsating world where all parts are connected and interdependent.”

Whether we call it incidence, coincidence, serendipity or chance as I read Jeremy’s message, I knew that this logo was fitting and appropriate for Project Seres.

There is also one more factor that I haven’t yet mentioned. Jeremy first heard about the logo competition from his sister, who I had been speaking with a few weeks earlier. Our families have been close since our parents first moved “across the creek” from each other before I was born, and Jeremy’s mother was even the mid-wife at the birth of my younger sister. As children, we all grew up roaming freely back and forth between the two houses – part of an extended family. Although over the recent years we have not been in regular contact, we remain surrogate family to each other in the way that only close family friends from childhood can. So it was a wonderful surprise to hear from Jeremy after a few years without contact, and to have the opportunity to reconnect and have our work come together on this project.

So that is the story of the Project Seres logo: how it came about, what it represents. I hope that you enjoyed reading about it, as I enjoyed discovering it, and I hope that you continue to follow me on the evolution of Project Seres.

From Guatemala,

Corrina

Jeremy is a very talented artist and designer with his own design company: Caper on Always. He has kindly donated his design to the project, so please help to support and thank him by visiting his website and checking out his art, animation and design work online.