Lam Facial Plastics logo by Dr Sam Lam
The accompanying logo on this page is the simplest expression of beauty to me, as it conveys the heightened elegance of what i love. Two, unjoined strokes that that are calligraphic in their sweep and entirely distinct entities. Together, they conveyed abstract beauty and also hint at an “L” for Lam Facial Plastics without over stating it. Fortunately, this logo design is my all time favorite!
The Spa at Willow Bend
This is my first logo created without the aid of Illustrator, as you can clearly see it is not computer rendered. As my spa has a zen feel, I looked to find a logo that would capture that very essence. In so doing, I came up with the enso, a symbol that many zen masters paint repeatedly every day in search of their own enlightenment. I myself created about 40 versions of this design with acrylic paint until I arrived at the exact one that I wanted. Some efforts were “too perfect”, whereas others were too unshapely. I found the combination of painterly crumbles and a relatively more perfect circled shape to be what I was seeking. The enso can be drawn as either a completely enclosed circle or one that retains an opening. The former represents the perfection that can be attained with life; the latter represents life’s incomplete journey. I always love the journey more than the destination. Also, I believe that my spa’s mission is not for you attain your destination but to help you along life’s journey.
The Organization for Facial Plastic Surgery Assistants Logo designed by Dr Samuel Lam.
Well, a lot of my logos never got used but they were fun anyway to create. What is interesting is that I find that almost all of my artwork in all shapes and sizes (except perhaps my photography) have been created for utilitarian purposes: to adorn my building, as illustrations for my books, as logos for my practice, etc. Dianne, my staff member who led the OFPSA as their president, asked me to create a simple logo for this organization. I thought that the OFPSA was already a mouthful and that the letters should be better recalled by the uninitiated. Accordingly, I created a simple logo using all of the letter elements with the circular O being the strong framing element. This somehow reminds me of the London Tube signs in their modernity and simple graphic message.
Solberg Center for Structural Integration logo designed by Dr Samuel Lam.
This is personally one of my favorite logos that I designed, which was for my buddy and tenant, Michael Solberg. As a rolfer, he works to straighten bodies out and make them less heavy. As this logo illustrates, the contorted, heavier body is slowly transformed to a lighter straighter form to the right. In addition, obviously, the curves represent the first letters for his center (SCFSI). The curved f design was used as a stylistic anchoring point that centered the logo. The logo was originally designed in an aqua blue green but was asked by Michael’s wife, Virigina, to be changed to a more organic green. I actually like this green version better. So much for the rigid artist in me!
Curved N Logo designed by Dr Samuel Lam
This logo was designed for a close friend of mine, who never used it for his business. His last name began with an “N” and he is in the beauty business. I like the feminine streaks that still are vertically in proper alignment, rendering them more masculine in their demeanor. Not one of my best designs but a fun one nevertheless.
Meridian Whole Health Logo Designed by Dr Sam Lam
I have designed so many logos for so many tenants who never became tenants that I have no idea why I made so many for these imaginary figures. I guess my artistic sensibility must be expressed at all cost. No, please do not bombard me with requests. I am now actually simply too busy to make any logos for anyone, including myself. This logo is supposed to be a G for someone whose name now escapes me because it was so many years ago or perhaps I have forcefully tried to forget all of the shadowy individuals who almost became tenants in my building. haha!
Ku Aesthetic Dentistry Logo by Dr Sam Lam
Although Dr. Ku ultimately went with his own designer, I really love this design on multiple levels. First, it is a great use of negative space: both in terms of using the box edges to define a border of the letters K and U as well as the use of white on black (or light on dark). I also like the increasing curved elements that are both stylistically pleasant but also serve a functional benefit of expressing the letters for KU. This one was really fun to design.
Ivital Logo designed by Dr Samuel Lam
I enjoyed making this logo for a tenant that unfortunately did not survive the economic downturn. In this logo, I was working with the I and V obviously but made it into an abstract person. Now, let me clarify, this is NOT a design that has a person with his or her hands in the air. That design is so pedestrian that almost everywhere you look, you see some form of it. This alludes to the presence of a svelte person but it remains a total abstraction. I like the orange color for this logo for some reason. It just hit me as working. Color is such a huge part of what I do and how I see the world. I recently asked for some orange accent walls for my condo. When it saw it up, I immediately recognized that the color simply did not work. It was just too orangey and creamy. It needed to be a darker brown orange for the color to have worked more tastefully in that setting. I think and see in color. Ok, I digress. Anyway, this was a fun logo to work on.
Ikaika Hawaiian Vital Juices Logo designed by Dr Sam Lam
I like how I have created so many logos for businesses of my tenants that never either took off or did not survive in my building. Call it my generous spirit or my desire to unleash some artistic frustration. Whatever it is, I have designed too many logos. I even came up with the name for this company. I was looking to create a very organic looking piece that represented Hawaii. The logo is a simplified fish nibbling downward on some algae or something. It also could be likened to a leaf with a hole bitten in it. Both motifs are about nature. The name Ikaika means strength, and I chose it both for its funny sound and the fun of saying it, “Eeeka-Eeka”. In addition, the meaning of strength was intended to describe something that you would get when you imbibed these all-natural juices, at least that was my intention. I chose the color of purple for some reason, again no concrete reason but it just seems to evoke what I was trying to create here.
Permaderma Logo designed by Dr Sam Lam
I came up with the name and logo for this short-lived permanent makeup service in my building. The name came from a contraction of the concept of permanent dermal enhancement, or tattooing. I decided that the shortened name, Permaderma, was both playful and catchy. When I created the logo, I used an eyebrow as my starting inspiration (since the makeup artist would be working on one’s eyebrows as one of her principal tasks) and by interlocking the two eyebrows, a ying yang concept is created. In addition, if you look carefully, you will see the P and the D of the perma and derma in small letters formed by the encircling elements. I love tone on tone color pairings. In fact, I have used a lot of tone on tone pairings in the paintings that I have created. These two shades of magenta in this logo are so similar that they look almost the same but still are very distinct in their color. If you notice, the pinker and thicker stroke of the portion derma matches the accompanying d-like swoosh of the eyebrow.
