When you first look at the ORCA logo, you see what appears to be water bubbles in the stroke of the letter “O,” but the real inspiration for this detail is an electronic jellyfish lure invented by the organization’s founder. The lure simulates the bioluminescent alarm of the deep sea jellyfish. When it displays its alarm, the jellyfish avoids being eaten (hopefully) by luring another more enormous creature to consume its attacker. The electronic jelly attracts large creatures from the deep and lures them to areas where they can be observed and recorded on video. Along with the usual legibility requirements for a logo, ORCA’s mark has the additional criteria of being easily recognizable underwater in the meager light. Using a bold font was vital to meeting this criterion. To add further cohesiveness, a connective wave springs from the bottom of the “C” and creates the cross stroke of the “A.”
To learn more about ORCA, visit www.teamorca.org.
To learn about the electronic jelly and see the giant squid it lured, visit https://www.ted.com/talks/edith_widder_how_we_found_the_giant_squid?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare.