Why a Bird: The Meaning Behind the Journey in Colour Logo
Nearly a year ago, I set out on my Journey in Colour adventure - a project born out of a desire to capture the vivid moments and emotions that travel brings. As I reflect on how far the journey has come, refreshing my website’s branding felt like a natural next step. Because my site is not commercial, I never felt the need for a traditional company logo. But as my presence starts to grow on social platforms, creating a visual identity that feels personal and true to my story has became more important. With no branding team or budget, I took on the challenge myself, determined to craft something meaningful and representative of my travels.
The logo for Journey in Colour is simple at first glance - an abstract bird in motion. But for me, it carries a lifetime of meaning.
Growing up as a teenager, it was just my mother and me. Our house didn’t have many rules. In fact, the only one I can clearly remember was never to walk home alone. Beyond that, I was free. Free to try new things, free to make mistakes, free to fail and try again. My wings were never clipped. That freedom shaped who I became, and it’s something I hold onto fiercely as a free-spirited adult.
A bird has always represented freedom. They can soar without boundaries and migrate effortlessly across continents. That sense of perpetual movement reminds me of why I’ve always been drawn to travel: the freedom to be curious, to immerse myself in unfamiliar cultures, to taste new flavours, and to discover the world.
A bird is a superior traveller. It uses quantum physics to navigate. It can fly thousands of kilometres through clouds in skies with no landmarks or GPS to visit the same tree each year.
In a bird’s brain, a protein called, cryptochrome, absorbs sunlight. When blue light hits the protein, it excites neurons, creating a pair of radicals which become quantum-entangled.
The Earth’s magnetic fields influence the quantum state of the radical pair, creating a field line signal that the bird can follow through a visual pattern - like natures’s own GPS. You can’t help but to respect how such a small creature with a tiny brain compared to a human can conquer such a quest, travelling across the globe.
Just as music can transport you to a memory, the unexpected song of a bird has always grounded me - a gentle nudge to pause and appreciate the present. My connection to birds deepened profoundly after my grandmother passed away. She was more than family; she was my confidante, a second mum, and friend rolled into one. The day I visited the hospital after she died, I stepped out of the car and was struck by a chorus of birdsong - so loud and vibrant it felt as if the world itself was singing. In that moment, I realised she would never hear birds sing again, and the sound took on new meaning.
Suddenly, their song became sacred. Something fragile and to be cherished. It was a reminder of how fleeting life is and how important it is to truly live while we can. That experience stayed with me. Now, every bird reminds me not only of freedom and flight, but of the preciousness and fragility of life itself.
Birds don’t just travel - they flow. That natural grace mirrors the way I aspire to move through life: open-hearted and purpose-driven.
Purpose has guided my personal and professional path. I’ve never been someone motivated by money. Although it’s necessary to pay the bills and build security for the family, most of my career choices have been working for not-for-profits, in education, or in international development.
Birds have also become quiet companions on my travels. If you have read my blogs, you may notice that they have been part of my travel memories, from the soft trill of a bulbul in Marrakesh to the most beautiful bird song I have ever heard: a nightingale. That moment has always stayed with me - such a simple pleasure. Sitting on a wooden stool outside Miss Can in Lisbon for longer than planned, eating tin sardines in the sun, intoxicated by the sherry wine and bird song!
So this is how I came to design my logo: a simple, abstract bird.
Lovely, Claire! Simple and straightforward, yet as complex as hell. Why do birds evoke such feelings? How do creatures which are so small and light (yes, even the raptors aren't that heavy) fly through the sky with speed and control? How do they feel about the ground, where we are anchored? Most are ungainly when walking. And Man's attempts at flight haven't worked out all that well. Do they envy our ability to walk and run as we envy their soaring flight? Their songs, though, are something else. Why do blackbirds in other countries sound like blackbirds in Britain? Why do sparrows in Asia display characteristics identical to those of British sparrows? Yes, birds are a good choice for a logo.