Designing àlaBuzz – Creating the Buzzing Bee Logo

I chose the site name, àlaBuzz, to denote word-of-mouth “buzz.” Afterall, I talk about free online tools, services, and sites that I like; thereby contributing to the overall word-of-mouth buzz that’s on the Internet.

Naturally the àlaBuzz logo needed to be representative of something that buzzes. I thought long and hard:

• People talking? Too complicated.
• Anything that could remotely conjure an association to narcotics – Inappropriate.
• Buzz-saws? – Never seriously considered.
• Bees? Yes! The cute, lovable, hard-working, cross-pollinating bee. (Just not a bee collecting pollen from a lucious red poppy!)

I combed the Internet to find a good, free bee icon or image to use for àlaBuzz. Unfortunately, bees are often depicted as nasty, vicious, aggresive little pests….Or just the opposite: Too, too cute! It looked like I needed to design my own bee logo.

Fine. Except that I didn’t know how to draw a scalable vector graphic (SVG). What kind of application would I need? What cost would be involved? How long would it take to learn?

With a bit more research, I understood Inkscape was the ticket. Inkscape is a highly-respected free, open-source SVG editor.  It provides excellent instruction and tutorials.

Although creating the àlaBuzz bee logo didn’t cost me a penny, it did require time, determination, and hard work. Maybe that’s why I’m so fond of the result. The àlaBuzz Bee is my baby! Have you noticed:

• The subtle shadow under the tummy?
• The textured wings?
• How that long, wavy line of text conveys motion?

No?(!) Well let’s move on.

While delving into Inkscape, I created several banners that can be uploaded to the revolving header of my PrimePress WP theme. I only use one, however, so àlaBuzz looks consistent from page to page. For the holidays, I may put my bees on a snowy landscape background. Perhaps little red earmuffs….Or would that crush their wings?

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