Meaning Behind the Brand

You’ll notice that Polmanarkivet now has a beautiful, bold brand across our web site and social media channels. 

Recently, we engaged a designer to come up with a design inspired by the family coat of arms. The brief was simple:

Polmanarkivet is looking for a sophisticated heraldry or coat of arms inspired brand. The logo can be classic or modern, but it needs to use symbolism from the original family coat of arms. However, the logo doesn’t necessarily need to be a coat of arms or family crest logo – it can very well be this, but I’m also open to other types of logos that are inspired by the family coat of arms.

von Pohlmann coat of arms
Polmanarkivet logo

Despite the simplicity of the original brief, the logo needed to:

  • Use symbolism from the family coat of arms e.g. armoured arm, ring, cannonball, wings, across, oak twigs, etc.
  • Work well in both black and white (e.g. for both light mode and dark mode)
  • Work well on a variety of mediums (e.g. web site, social media, print)
  • Scale well at smaller sizes

Finally, the original Polman coat of arms featured an armoured arm with a hand holding a ring. Later, the family was ennobled in Sweden with the name Påhlman and, instead of a ring, the armoured arm and hand held a cannonball. It was important that the brand incorporate this evolution.

Polmarnarkivet traditional logo mark
Left: Traditional logo mark
Polmanarkivet modern logo mark
Right: Modern logo mark

While working with the designer, the focus shifted from a literal recreation of the coat of arms to a reinterpretation of its elements. The designer presented two logo marks — traditional and modern — to represent the same brand, depending on the context. The design features an oak branch and acorn atop the helmet, below this are two armoured arms holding a cannonball and a ring, are all obvious nods to the original coat of arms.

To represent both Polmanarkivet and the Polman family more broadly, the bottom of the logo features a unique “P” lettermark. The colours for Polmanarkivet feature a luxurious colour palette of navy and gold, which gives the brand a regal and timeless feel.

Polmanarkivet colour palette
Polmanarkivet colour palette

Overall, the new brand design perfectly captures the essence of the Polman family and their legacy. With its sophisticated and modern interpretation of the original coat of arms, it provides a strong and memorable visual identity for Polmanarkivet across all mediums.

Polmanarkivet branding example
Polmanarkivet branding, designed by GIRA

Jake Peterson
Jake Peterson

Jake’s greatest dream is to reveal stories that have been buried in history. He does this through rigorous research and combing through archives to preserve precious stories for future generations. Jake has qualifications in narrative therapy and family studies, and is an author, family historian, and researcher. In 2022, he published his first book “Arcadia.” Follow Jake on Instagram @polmanarkivet.

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