Work, 2013
A complex and brave style logo design for Good News From Indonesia
Role
Logo Design
Visual Identity
Creative Direction
The brief
In 2013, Akhyari Hananto (Founder and Editor-in-Chief) and Imam Muttaqin (now GM People & Product Development) approached me with a brief to design a new logo for Good News From Indonesia that would represent the brand's values and purpose, and stand out as a new media outlet focused on spreading positive news about Indonesia.
About Good News From Indonesia
Good News From Indonesia (GNFI) is an independent platform that promotes positivity and optimism about Indonesia by sharing inspiring news and information.
GNFI is unique in its approach to news coverage. Rather than sensationalizing negative stories (bad news is good news) like other media outlets, the platform focuses exclusively on positive news, celebrating the nation's achievements and progress.
By upholding the belief that good news is good news, the platform aims to shift negative perceptions about Indonesia, restore optimism, and rebuild confidence in the nation.
The platform's creation was inspired by a survey conducted by the founder, Akhyari Hananto and 300 other volunteers in 2008. The survey asked 4,000 young Indonesiaans about their perspectives on the country's future. To everyone's surprise, 83.61% of the respondents expressed pessimism about the nation's future due to the lack of positive news and information.
GNFI aims to fill this gap by promoting the beauty and diversity of Indonesia and restoring optimism in the country.
Design Approach
Good News From Indonesia represents a positive spirit that instills confidence and raises awareness of the nation's greatness, civilization, extraordinary history, and potential. This is the driving force to move forward and create a better future.
My intention was to propose a new logo for "Good News From Indonesia" that reflects the country's spirit, culture, and determination to move forward with optimism.
The ideal outcome of this project should be a logo as a visual part of the brand that embodies the message of Good News From Indonesia.
I studied the existing logo and identified areas for improvement. Overall, the logo needs to be more iconic and memorable, with a strong character that instantly conveys an authentically Indonesian feel, or what we call Indonesia banget.
Indonesia is not a perfect country, and perhaps it will never be. But this nation is extraordinary and will always be. Merdeka!
Good News From Indonesia (@gnfi) via Twitter
In the initial stages, I had the option to create a simple or minimalist logo and follow the trend. However, we ultimately decided to create a complex logo that represents more meaning and looks grande.
What I've learned from Good News From Indonesia (GNFI) is that they are undoubtedly a platform that aims to showcase the nation's greatness by highlighting good news.
Their branding reflects this desire to be perceived in that way. Therefore, it would be beneficial for GNFI to have a logo that embodies the spirit of the nation.
To achieve this, I carefully selected elements of Indonesian symbols, culture, landmarks, and even history for the inspiration. With more than 17,000+ islands, 250+ million people, and 1,300+ ethnic groups, Indonesia has countless options to choose from.
Indonesia's richness in culture as the main source of inspiration for Good News From Indonesia logo.
Designing a complex logo requires making a lot of decisions, from selecting which elements to include and exclude, to ensuring it aligns with the media's mission statement. However, with the number of its elements included, a complex logo also needs to have a simple form and look.
Letter G structure as the base of Good News From Indonesia logo
The design process started with sketching out ideas freely. It was not always a smooth process, but it helped me find the shape and composition for the logo.
Sketch and composition exploration
Composition sketch compared to the base G
Garuda head detail (adjusted)
Sketch vs final art
Final Design
After running many, if not countless, iterations, here are the final design result.
Portrait lockup
Landscape lockup
Colored (red) version
Black/White version
Pages of logo design process, guideline, and philosophy.
Implementation
The new logo was applied across all of Good News From Indonesia's products, from digital to print, including the website, social media, and merchandise.
After Project
After this initial branding project, I served as creative director until 2016, where my responsibilities included maintaining the brand's visual presentation and leading a team of creatives to create and manage internal products. I worked closely with clients ranging from national companies, universities, and government entities.
Edy Pang, was the graphic designer at GNFI. He was the very backbone of our visual content, and his creation of GNFI's visual identities had left an indelible mark on the company that is nothing short of breathtaking.
Akhyari Hananto
Editor in Chief, Good News From Indonesia