Client:
Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies                   website

Logo Concept:
TCL wanted to develop a logo that would speak about their growing center and its mission of serving its community by offering the San Francisco Bay Area's most extensive teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in a supportive and compassionate study and practice environment. "Tse Chen Ling" means "land of great compassion." The lotus and couch shell are two of the eight auspicious Tibetan Buddhist symbols—the lotus symbolizes compassion and purity, and the conch shell symbolizes the calling together of an assembly, and "the fame of the Buddhist teachings which spreads in all directions like the sound of the couch trumpet." These two symbols were combined to create a modern logomark for the Center, steeped in tradition. As most of their print projects are printed in one-color, TCL also wanted the flexibility of using the logo in different colors, so a palette of blue, maroon and a warm orange-brown were developed. The logo appears in two-color (blue and gold) on the website.