The
Venturn
logo

It may come as no surprise that logos are important assets to companies. Logos are more than just a decoration: they are a vital aid to express a firm’s values, strategy and characteristics. Our Founding Partner Patrick van de Ven shed some light on how Venturn’s logo came to be and the meaning behind it.

[ This post was originally published on November 30, 2017. Though the background story remains the same, we have updated the Venturn logo visually—click here for more information! ]

One should give credit where credit is due. When asked how the Venturn logo came into existence, Patrick immediately clarifies he was not the brain behind it: “A smart person came up with it, it wasn’t me. His assignment was to come up with a good name and a fitting logo for the company. He heard the story: who are we, what do we do. We told him about our industry, our services, our products. Eventually, he came up with the name Venturn and its logo.”

Calling a spade a spade?

However, very rarely is the process of designing that straight-forward. “The logo went through a few phases. From the perspective of Venturn as a training institute, he said: you have a story. You have something to say.” Those familiar with rowing might recognize a bullhorn in Venturn’s logo; a device sometimes used to instruct those handling the oars. “Originally, because the logo was supposed to resemble a horn, it had a little handle underneath. But the handle disappeared over time.”

“Even the colour,” Patrick then continues. “It’s a very clear blue. The way we see it, Venturn is always seeking a clear vision, so the colours in our logo visualize that goal. At the same time, the logo doesn’t depend on the colours to make a statement or to express our values.”But wait a minute—isn’t the logo supposed to resemble a windsock? “The idea of a windsock made its way into the logo, because it adds a maritime element. If you look up the word ‘ventus’ in Latin or ‘vent’ in French, it means something like ‘wind’ or ‘pressure’, so in that sense a windsock matches the name very well. If you look at the circular lines in the logo, they also give the impression of something that’s turning—which also fits Venturn. It expresses the constant cycle of improvement that we pursue for ourselves and for our customers to keep producing better results. So in the end, yes, we could say the logo is a windsock, we could give it any name we want, but in reality it’s none of these things and at the same time it’s all of them at once. It has a little bit of everything.”

Future-proof

It would be very understandable for someone who is faced with the same logo for fifteen years to grow tired of seeing it. However, Patrick remains satisfied with the design. “What I like about the logo… you see websites become outdated, fonts become outdated, but the business is sixteen years old now and I still think our logo is very nice and crisp. It doesn’t look out of place in our current day and age. I find it very impressive that this was designed all those years ago, because I’m still happy with it. You see other companies trading in their logos for more modern options all the time and that hasn’t been necessary for us yet.”

So, a timeless design? “‘Timeless’ might not be the right phrase; you probably wouldn’t see the logo on a ship from the 1800s. But I’d say our logo is very ‘future-proof’.”