Logo Challenge Day 5: Driverless Car Logo

For anyone who doesn't know, I live in Pittsburgh, PA, the city of bridges. I love Pittsburgh, it's an amazing and vibrant city, that being said, it is extremely difficult to navigate if you are unfamiliar with it. The city is triangular due to the 3 rivers that surround it (the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to create the Ohio), and a triangle is not an ideal shape for a grid road system, therefor, it can be a bit of a nightmare. There are one-way streets everywhere that follow no discernible pattern, 3-way, 5-way, and even 6-way intersections, and constantly changing traffic patterns due to construction. Oh, and to get most places you need to cross a bridge or go through a tunnel. Because of this, companies like Uber, Tesla, and Google have realized that this is the perfect city to test their Driverless Cars (because if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere). 

Day 5: Driverless Car Logo

Living here, I have been in the presence of Driverless Cars for years, so I was super excited to see this prompt come in! Immediately my brain started churning. I wanted to reference several things in my design: Radar, Sight, Connectivity, and (obviously) Cars.

I thought a lot about radar and sonar, being that this technology is commonly used in driverless vehicles, so my first draft was simply three half circles moving outward. I then realized that these "sonar circles" were similar to a wifi signal. I clipped the half circle slightly and knocked out radar and connectivity.

Then I needed to add the car. I thought about a steering wheel, but ultimately decided on the odometer. Originally the circular base of the odometer was lower, where the natural center of the full circle would be, but then I saw the eye. Can you see it? The negative space and the round base of the needle creates an eye. I'll be honest, this was mostly a happy accident, but I think it makes the logo! It ticks every box. The car is using sonar and connectivity to watch out for you.

Last was the name. I decided not to use any of the name suggestions (Autonome, Vrooom, Onward) and went with "Chaperone". It may be a little "Westworld" but I wanted to use something more familiar and less mechanical, something that says "I will get you home safe" not "I'm a robot beep boop beep".

Clearly I tought a lot about this prompt. Can't wait for the next!