By Hargun R. , HYI Youth Volunteer, Podcast Crew
November 16, 2020
As Episode 2 of Halton Youth Share the Truth becomes available for our listeners, Hargun, one of our podcast youth hosts, shares with readers about the meaning behind the podcast logo she designed. Check out the podcast!
When I was given the task of creating the logo for our new upcoming podcast, I was unsure on how to proceed. I wanted to add the vibrant colors of the Indigenous community while capturing the message we wanted to share as youth.
The Halton Youth Initiative’s (HYI) podcast idea began because we wanted a platform for us to raise awareness about Indigenous issues and showcase the things we were learning. The prospect of producing a visual that encompassed our values and our desire for collective growth seemed really daunting.
In all honesty, I was out of ideas and a little overwhelmed, so I opened my laptop and started doing some research. I found two images that I absolutely loved.
The first was the logo for Indigenous Canada. It was a monochrome image that displayed an illustration of multiple man-made creations and animals. The second was a painting by Roy Kakegamic that depicted the great flood.
I decided that the logo had to be a combination of both. Excited about my newly found inspiration, I grabbed a notebook and made a rough sketch.
I began by drawing a microphone to highlight the youth voices and the Indigenous values we would be sharing in the podcast.
At the bottom of the mic, instead of being a traditional stand, is a whale's tail, which represents the oceans. The scarf shape design is a nod to human clothes and represents the land. The bird represents the air. All of these elements of creation are shrouded by the mic (or our voices), which we would use to highlight the stories, traditions and the history of the native peoples of Canada.
At the top I placed a teepee representing the Indigenous community. The teepee is overshadowed by a pair of leaves, which displays how their lives and struggles are presently unknown to a lot of people.
Then I ended my rough image by placing a book at the bottom to illustrate that the foundation for all of our learning, discussions and work is continual education.
After my sketch was done, I borrowed my brother’s iPad and traced my drawing. It took a while but in the end it looked like what I wanted it to. The only thing left were the colours. For that I used the painting and tried my best to recreate Mr. Kakegamic’s designs and colours.
I can’t say that the logo is perfect because every time I look at it, I laugh at how silly some of the portions look. But I loved making it and I sincerely hope that everyone who listens to our podcast loves it too.
Episode 2 of Halton Youth Share the Truth is NOW on voicED radio. Listen to the podcast. The episode touches on some steps toward reconciliation in our community as the hosts Myra and Julia talk to Halton youth volunteers; Kat and Nishita. The volunteers have a lot to share about what they are doing with the calls to action and they also share their knowledge and thoughts about Canada’s past and present.
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