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Visual Hierarchy – Form and Color

  |   Institutional

Visual Identity

The assemblage of the shapes that make up this signature, in its main version, is guided by a complex structure of elements arrangement in vertical direction, on chronological order of these same elements and symmetrical distribution of the contained designations. It was decided to include the logotype used by the Synagogue in 1946 at the top of the signature, followed by the symbol created for HeHaver in 1999, and finally, at the base, the description added and formatted recently, but respecting the type fonts printed at the time, since they are currently trendy, trying a certain temporal dynamics. Despite the desired general graphical uniformity, some elements stand out as core signs – the Tree and the Star – followed by the name OHEL JACOB at the base, again showing the interconnection between Association and Synagogue, past and present.

The colors adopted in 1999 remained, although optimized – green, gray, yellow, and blue in CMYK color system, without a dominant color pretense, either for the main or minor versions.

There wasn’t a deliberate intention in regard to the colors and it was a choice purely based on reality regardless of the psychological meanings of the chosen colors and shades.

Regarding to the symbol, it was vectorized and optimized; it was adjusted in alignment and elements proportions; the olive tree was optimized in its foliage and branches details, in order to fix the image degradation due to its successive printing reproductions over the many years. It has not been possible to access to the original image and so it was decided to replace the Jewish Star by the more correct model used in the primitive stationary of the Synagogue, in the 1940s. An original detail was kept, a detail naturally intent regarding the coexistence between the Magen David and the other elements, highlighting the fact that the Magen David is not directly involved in the composition, although it is part of it, in other words, there isn’t a connection drawn between the Star and any other elements present.

It is not even known the distance between the Star and the olive tree. The original author seemed to prefer to preserve the concepts involved, once the Star of David is part of a group of universal symbols, whose meaning is widely assumed.

The blending of universal symbols in particular symbols may cause some risk of concepts corruption, albeit without intention, by which the first author of the graphic identity Hehaver have sought a distinction between Judaism/Israel and the Institution Hehaver, following the same line of its founders, in the 1940s, so that the symbol can stand for an identity on a specific religious institution and not a visual metaphor about a common religion. The Star remained as a representative of Judaism/Israel regardless of the Institution characterized, whose composition already described in item Concept and Form constitute the necessary differential for its visual identity.

The olive tree shape is guided by a cultivated specimen, young, but adult, with dense foliage, and spherical cup, in its most green season, before the flowering stage, aiming an harmonious graphic impression, a subtle balance between the strong vertical hierarchy of its components and a certain circular visual sense capable of projecting the parity between the purpose and the character of Hehaver – an apolitical and non-profit institution – as well as the religious essence of the Synagogue.

ohel - Visual Hierarchy - Form and Color
The synagogue of Progressive rite, the only Askenazi synagogue in Portugal, founded in 1934. Affiliate member of EUPJ/WUPJ (European Union of Progressive Judaism/World Union of Progressive Judaism) since April 2016.