Why the 'fire' symbol?

Many people who have seen our stuff and looked at our logo have commented on the fire symbol. It’s been called a bear claw and (hilariously) a princess castle by confused friends. And several people have commented that it’s a pretty ‘basic-looking’ symbol, not a particularly great image of a fire. 

Well, the fire symbol is emblematic of several elements of our journey thus far (and will hopefully continue to be!):

First, we wanted to start a backyard-themed brand. The fire-pit or fire-ring is a nostalgic backyard gathering place - and the fire always brings people together for warmth and sharing. We picked a fire (instead of a lawnmower or lawn chair) because we hope Backyard Brand brings people together and spreads warmth & joy for those who share in it! 

Second, the fire is composed of three logs and three flames. For Thomas, Nate and I, this venture is currently a side-hustle - we’ve all still got full-time gigs - and we hope we can build it into something that generates some value (for a like-minded backyard-loving community, and for us & our families). The three logs and three flames represent us and the slow work of building a company - gathering resources, struggling to have sparks hit tinder, nurturing small flames to catch bigger logs, and tending the flames you get going. So, yeah, it’s a motivating symbol for us. Hopefully we build something ‘hot.’

Lastly, it’s a fairly basic (and unique) symbol. In one sense, most good logos are - so I like it for that reason. But why didn’t we make the fire more realistic? We could have just grabbed a stock image (or someone else’s work) from online and slapped that on instead. But from the get-go, we’ve been committed to building this brand right. All our designs and art are ORIGINAL - I'm our resident digital illustrator, and if I can’t design the image myself, we aren’t just gonna rip it from someone else. I’ll learn and grow, and the artwork I’ve been able to produce has increased in complexity as I’ve designed more shirts. I could certainly make a much more sophisticated fire logo now, but the one we’ve got is the fire logo that we started with, the ‘tinder’ on which our brand got its first tongue of flame going. Maybe we’ll decide to change it one day. But for now, I really like that it’s our ‘master image.’ It’s a symbolic fire indeed.

- Howie