Logo for a Graphic Novel Artist

NERV Arts, blending Japanese style story telling & floral symbolism.

Industry

Book and Illustration

Client

Natalia Rodriguez

Tools

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop

Time frame

Jan- Feb 2026

NERV Arts is the personal brand of Natalia Rodríguez, a graphic novel illustrator who creates original characters and story-driven artwork. She needed a logo that could represent the tone of her stories while also working across merchandise, social media, and branding materials. The challenge was to design a visual identity that balanced mystery and darker symbolism with a playful and approachable style, without making the brand appear childish or to dark.

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Design Approach

During the client interview, several recurring themes emerged that influence the artist’s work witch was Japanese culture and symbolism. Darker meanings hidden beneath beauty while using folkloric storytelling. As an artis she uses a lot of floral imagery and specified a desire for soft pastel colors combined with darker tones. Research into Japanese symbolism led to the Red Spider Lily Higanbana, a flower associated with death, the afterlife, and guiding souls between worlds. This symbolism aligned strongly with the themes present in the client’s storytelling and became a key conceptual inspiration.

During the client interview, several recurring themes emerged that influence the Artist work witch was Japanese culture and symbolism. Darker meanings hidden beneath beauty while using folkloric storytelling. As an artis she uses a lot of floral imagery and specified a desire for soft pastel colors combined with darker tones. Research into Japanese symbolism led to the Red Spider Lily Higanbana, a flower associated with death, the afterlife, and guiding souls between worlds. This symbolism aligned strongly with the themes present in the client’s storytelling and became a key conceptual inspiration.

Visual identity

The final concept selected by the client, is one that integrates floral symbolism inspired by the Red Spider Lily, connecting the brand to Japanese folklore and the darker narrative themes of the client’s artwork. Typography combines a serif typeface for NERV, giving the logo a dramatic storytelling tone, with a handwritten style for Arts, emphasizing the handmade and personal nature of the artist’s work. This balance between structured typography and expressive lettering reflects both the narrative depth and creative personality behind the brand.

Results

I created a distinctive logo for NERV Arts that communicates storytelling, mystery, and creativity while remaining approachable to a wide audience. The design system includes multiple logo variations, color applications, and a favicon to ensure flexibility across digital platforms, merchandise, and print materials. This identity provides the artist with a strong visual foundation to support the growth of her brand and future projects.