Identity Design Project
The Temple of Light
Roles
Identity Design
Website Design
The Ananda Temple of Light at Ananda Village represents the heart and soul of Ananda Worldwide. It's a sanctuary for meditation, worship, and special events celebrating the Divine within all.
In preparation for an endowment fundraising campaign, I was asked to design a new brand identity for this iconic temple. Could I do it justice while building a strong visual tie-in to the global Ananda brand?
Strategic Goals
The Temple of Light already had a highly rendered logo, which was a more literal, more detailed illustration of the temple itself. Though attractive, it was difficult to see clearly at small sizes and didn’t meet all the requirements for a great logo.
For this design, there were several strategic goals:
Simple design, not rendered in detail
Usable and clear in various contexts
Recognizably an Ananda brand
Immediately recognizable
Of course, it also needed to express the feeling of visiting the Temple of Light.
The Temple of Light Brand
Before working on the design, the client and I talked about what the Temple of Light at Ananda Village represents. Some of the ideas that came up were:
An open door to all
Sharing light all throughout the world
A focal point for blessings
We also came up with a short list of brand keywords that were very much part of what the temple is, the experience of visiting it, and the quality of its design:
Light
Uplifting
Giving
Ananda
Inclusive
This graphic shows the final logo, using “Endowment Fund” as it’s sub-heading, in three versions: normal, two-tone, and black and white.
Designing the Logo
The final design was based on the spiritual eye, the visual representation of a chakra that is very important in the teachings and techniques of Paramhansa Yogananda—and is very close in appearance to Ananda’s logo. I took that as a starting place for the design as you can see below.
A lot of time went into getting the shape of the temple to what you see here. I’m always surprised how very small changes in the flow of lines produce significant shifts in energy.
The circular pattern used in the design was repeated in other, more subtle ways as well.
Brand Tie-In
When a brand has relationships to others, it’s extremely beneficial to demonstrate clear tie-in to the viewer. This builds trust and familiarity—and often happens instantly and subconsciously.
To this end, I…
Used the same fonts as the Ananda Sangha Worldwide brand does
Used the same colors as its logo
Based the design off of the same shape
The Logo in Context
When presenting the final brand to the client, I made sure to incorporate examples of how it might be used in the real world. This is important, as it validates whether the design will work in all the situations where it may need to be used.
“Working with Nabha was an excellent experience from start to finish. He went above and beyond in all his communications and in delivering on all the goals we set, even when we were on a tight deadline. The finished products exceeded my expectations and his attention to detail along the way was impressive.
“Combined with his own creativity, he was also extremely thoughtful and thorough in making sure that what he was creating matched our goals. I’m so pleased with our new website and especially with our new logo, which will be with us for many years to come.”
Erin Vinacco, Director of Fundraising at Ananda Worldwide
