Posted on by Carla

Weekly Forum #2

I would like to present a proposed design for a symbol of the John H Watson Society:

JHWS SymbolThe pen for Dr Watson the biographer, the scalpel for Dr Watson the man of medicine, and the tree roots that extend above and below to form a growing connection between the past and present, the established generation reaching out to connect with the recent wave of newcomers interested in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and our good friend, Dr Watson.

So the questions for this week’s forum is simply… hey, so, what do you think of the design?

21 Replies to “Weekly Forum #2”

  5. I LOVE it! Although I’d favor removing the roots on top of the tree. I get the symbolism, and yet… and yet. But I love the concept in general. Thank you for your imagination and loving labor. We should have the final design made into a lapel pin.

    1. Thank you for the feedback and the advice, Darwin.

      I can understand that the roots going in both directions is rather odd, but I’m not quite sure how best to balance the image if I only put the tree imagery on the bottom. I will consider alternative ideas, though if you have further ideas, please let me know. Thank you for suggesting that we make a lapel pin. That could be very nice. 🙂

      1. I’ll preface this by noting that I’m in no way or medium a visual artist. I am, however, rather fond of metaphors.

        One suggestion might be to consider the tree trunk as organization itself. It’s rooted in various ideas contained in the Canon and in Watson’s personality as well.

        The top then might be branches with leaves, as many as balance the roots to an artistic eye (not mine), the branches representing the many ways we honor Watson, in books, rhymes, essays, and conversations, for example, and the leaves representing individual works produced by the members.

        Like a tree, the from the roots of the Canon springs the John H. Watson Society, and from that comes individual works of various sorts.

        I’m aware that such changes might involve some rebalancing, but then the leaves, being only metaphorical, need not be too many.

        Or the whole above idea might be nonsense!

        1. I can see the image you’re describing and there is an appeal to creating a flourishing tree as the “insperata floruit” basis of the message. But balancing the tree in the background with the scalpel and pen in the foreground is rather tricky. If I shrink, lower, or remove the crossed scalpel and pen, I can accommodate a flourishing tree, but doing so creates a greater hierarchy for the tree in the background than the Watsonian symbols in the foreground. I will give it further consideration. Thank you for the suggestion. 🙂

  6. I like it very much, although the roots at the top should be replaced with leaves, looking more like a tree (the solidness of Good ol’Watson), but representing the growth and the flowering that has and will continue to happen. The piece is excellent, and I thank you very much for this and for all that you continue to do for the society.

    1. Thank you for the suggestion, Cooper. I did first attempt to create a tree image, but I discovered that it unbalanced the image and did not work well with the crossed scalpel and pen.

      If I were to go with the tree imagery, it would be better to remove the scalpel and pen, but then that would take away from the indications of Dr Watson. After giving it a lot of thought, the roots bridging across the generations was my compromise – the repeated image in the background can allow the scalpel and pen to come into focus in the foreground.

      Though if there is an alternative idea to balance the symbol and still incorporate the tree top, please share them with me. The feedback helps a great deal. 🙂

      1. What if the trunk were a little bit shorter and the scalpel and pen lowered, so that there’s room for some leaves. True, the image would then not be perfectly balanced top to bottom, but need it be?

        Perhaps; as previously noticed I’m no visual artist.

        1. As a principal of design, yes, a balanced image makes the message clearer. If the image is unbalanced or if there is simply too much to process at a glance, then it may now work well as a symbol.

  7. Airy, you are just a wonder. I like it very much as is, Cooper’s idea about leaves on the top is good if it is doable and doesn’t make the logo too “busy.” Cheers, Daisy

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