Selecting the Balyolu Logo: A Vision of the Mind

Esref Armagan filming the VOLVO-S604 web campaign (courtesy of http://www.livincool.com/cars/esref-armagan-per-volvo-s60)

Over the last few months, the Balyolu has faced many challenges, and one of our biggest is this: what will our logo be? A logo is your story, the face of your company, and the image that everyone will remember when they think of your idea. Balyolu wants to be a new perspective; on business, the environment, beekeeping, and tourism. We want to be a company that inspires others to think, to taste, and to imagine. It is a loaded vision for a small logo.

But I know of one artist who challenges people to see beyond a picture, and instead compels us to use our senses and our minds to discover the possibilities of the world in which we live. That man is Esref Armagan. Esref is an artist who paints with his hands, and the person I wanted to design our logo.

Today, I received 24 beautiful designs for a Balyolu logo, crafted from Esref’s own fingers.

But how?!

It started three years ago, I was age 22 and I met Esref’s manager, Joan Eroncel. Joan is a Colorado native, born to the rocky mountains and the unbeatable blue skies of the continental divide. When SHE was 22 (over 40 years ago), she moved to Turkey, fell in love with the Bosphorus and although she has returned to the states here and there, Turkey has become her home. When Joan and I met, there was a click. We were fiery foreigners who loved to speak Turkish, explore ancient neighborhoods, and laugh over Turkish idioms. Joan enchanted me with stories of traveling to Baghdad by train, teaching English in Erzurum, and both guiding and being guided by visionaries in Turkey who could see without their eyes. Esref was Joan’s colleague, her inspiration, and the subject of many incredible stories of being the manager of a blind artist. No one can tell Joan’s journey like she can, so I highly encourage you to watch her video below.

Joan has been a role model and a pillar for me for years. When I returned to the states in tears, devastated to leave Turkey, Joan always jumped on Skype to tell me comfortingly that I would be back. She has been my guide when Turkish culture turns my world upside down, my motivation when I wanted to lock myself in an apartment and read the Hunger Games all day instead of board a plane to Kars, and one of my closest friends.

And in support of Balyolu, which she has encouraged me in creating over all of this time, she kindly requested of Esref to help us with our logo.

Thank you both for your energy, your brilliance, and your spark. You both disrupt the status quo, challenging everyone’s ideas of what is possible. In picking one of Esref’s logos, I hope that Balyolu can live up to such a high standard.

With that, I our dear readers to help us pick the new Balyolu logo. You are free to combine, mix, and match any of the Esref’s work here. I challenge you to look closely, many of the bee’s wings are B’s for “Bal,” and many of the stems of flowers represent the Y for “yolu.” The moons are for Turkey, the paths are to represent the nomadic trails of the northeast. The circles are the dark cavernous entrances of ancient karakovan hives. Each logo asks you to use your imagination, to think beyond the lines into a creative mind, into what is possible.

Comment below this post with your favorite number or number combinations, and any additions or ideas that come to your mind.

And if you would like to learn more about Esref, I highly encourage you to watch the videos below, and check out Esref’s Website. He is truly one of the most talented Turkish artists of our time.

Finally, thanks to all of you for your standing by Balyolu though-out this adventure, and helping us make this choice. We are excited to see what you select!

Discovery Channel’s Extraordinary People, The Artist with No Ideas: Esref Armagan – Extaordinary People

Volvo’s 2011 Internet Campaign: A Car You can only Imagine - 2011 Volvo Campaign with Esref

Turkish WIN,  New Beginnings: Joan Eroncel – Joan Eroncel, New Beginnings