SUBmerge Logo Design

The fellowship of Riverview Baptist Church enjoyed embracing their creativity through worship and ministry. For nearly half a century, the members of the church have operated faith-based study and worship groups available to the community of Bixby, Oklahoma.

Near the beginning of 2006, the organizing members of the church conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of their identity branding and logo designs. They determined that they needed a new, custom logo design that would encompass the central theme of the church in a colorful, youthful way.

Our creative team developed a fun, kinetic logo design that united a portion of the text with a youthful, fluid image. We incorporated themes of water from the church and the name of the bible study into a bold image of a submarine. Bright primary colors and bold waves of movement added to the energy and playfulness of the logo design.

The central mission of Riverview Baptist Church is to connect with God and develop a deeper, more meaningful connection with Him. Located in Bixby, Oklahoma, they organized groups focused on educating attendees on the word of God and how His principles could apply to aspects of their daily lives. Their members embody the will of the Lord and help spread His message in any way possible, including volunteer work, charity, or simply lending a helping hand. One of their largest ministries is their Sunday morning bible study program, attended by members of all ages from all services.

This ministry, known as ‘SUBmerge’, was one of the largest organized ministries hosted by the church. The members of the group wanted a bright, playful logo design that would reflect the atmosphere of the ministry and its members. The logo needed to possess an aspect of versatility to allow it to be displayed on multiple media types and colors without sacrificing the integrity of the design during transition.

Our creative team strove to embrace the zeal for life felt by the members of the Sunday morning bible study ministry. The logo needed to be colorful and charismatic in order to attract attention and represent the atmosphere of the ministry. We incorporated elements from the main theme of the church to unite the logo with others in the series and with the church as a whole.

The central image of the design was a play on the name of the ministry, ‘SUBmerge’. We designed a simplistic graphic shape of a submarine, complete with periscope and porthole to illustrate this concept and incorporate the name within the ima-*ge. The first half of the word, ‘SUB’, was fixed within the submarine in all capital letters. We formatted the text in a bold, sans serif font and colored it a bright yellow to add vibrancy and fun. The font we selected was customized and altered to better fit the design, slanting backwards to create the illusion of speed and add playfulness to the logo. Below and behind the submarine, we included tapered, wavy lines and small spheres in a deep blue, reminiscent of the bubbles and waves of the ocean.

The lowest wavy line traveled into the rest of the text of the image, the suffix ‘Merge’. Set below the image and to the right, the text was formatted in all lowercase letters and a youthful, rounded font similar to liquid or bubbles. We designed the text to appear ‘submerged’ beneath the water, creating overlapping ideas that reinforced the central theme of the church. To further establish the theme of water throughout the design, we incorporated a water droplet flowing from the bottom of the ‘r’. This water drop adds balance to the design and evokes the sensation of motion, strongly establishing the thematic elements and the spirit of the bible study group as a whole.