Linked Hands is a small company launched in 2009. Their name, and the projects they have already undertaken, conjure up images of helping hands, that reach out and make connections.

Fonts can be very expressive, and are an easy way to get a feel for the style a client envisions.  I compiled an array of possibilities, and submitted them to the client. The letters and numbers surrounding the ‘table’ of font choices allowed us to speak specifically about the options. The client narrowed the selection to a handful of possibilities.

I took my cue from the name, and imagined the ways in which hands could be linked. There are already many logos that employ this motif, usually depicting hands holding one another.

Linked Hands’ first project is internet-based, so I began to think about technology. Their users are “plugged in.”

The above logos depict hands that are literally plugged in to each other. These designs use the most basic symbols, an upraised hand and simple outlines. The client appreciated the meaning, but electronic plugs were deemed too old-fashioned for a company operating online.

I then took photographs of my own hands and traced them to create more detailed, elegant hands. I connected these with a repeating rope, and experimented with a glow in the palm to symbolize the ‘plug’ point.

The orange and red color scheme was a hit, and was carried forward. The rope was not an obvious connector, so I took another try at a plug. This time I based the design off a CAT5 LAN cable, the sort of cable most users employ once graduating from dial-up.

By now it was clear that the graphics were overpowering the text. I enlarged the text to the point where it could now compete with the hands. The text made a natural bridge between the hands, with the lines of the font connecting them.

The finished product sybolizes Linked Hands’ giving nature and bright view of the future.