DDC Emanating Heart is a graphic mark created by Aaron James Draplin, founder of Draplin Design Co. (DDC), a Portland, Oregon-based design studio known for bold, thick-lined graphics and a working-class aesthetic. The mark depicts a simple, bold heart shape surrounded by radiating lines, a composition that echoes Draplin’s recurring interest in sun-like, radiating motifs.
Design and History
The DDC Emanating Heart is closely related to a series of heart-themed graphics Draplin produced for his own merchandise line. In November 2015, Draplin released the DDC-153 “Thick Lines Heart” souvenir patch, a 3.0″ x 2.625″ embroidered patch featuring a thick-lined heart. In his announcement, Draplin described making the heart “to remind myself that love is a magical thing,” and noted that the design was available in two colorways: “Blood Red/Black Heart” and “CMY Process Love.”[1]
The radiating lines surrounding the heart in the Emanating Heart mark are consistent with Draplin’s broader visual vocabulary. In June 2013, Draplin published a “Logo For The DDC Summer Months,” a sun graphic with radiating rays, noting “we made a logo for that big summer sun.”[2] The Emanating Heart combines this sun-ray treatment with the heart shape from his patch series.
Draplin founded Draplin Design Co. in 2004, and the studio has produced logos for clients including Nike, Patagonia, Sub Pop Records and the Obama Administration.[3] The Emanating Heart functions as a personal, non-client mark, part of DDC’s own merchandise and branding efforts rather than a commissioned corporate identity.
Meaning and Symbolism
Draplin’s own description of the Thick Lines Heart patch provides the most direct documented meaning for the heart motif. He wrote that he made the heart “to remind myself that love is a magical thing, and, well, to let it fill up my life, head and shop, and lift me from the lightless hellhole that is the Draplin Design Co. up into the warm, golden rays of love’s shining mysteries.”[1] The radiating lines in the Emanating Heart version visually extend this “warm, golden rays” concept, though Draplin has not published a separate written explanation for the radiating treatment specifically.
Typography and Design
The Emanating Heart is a purely pictorial mark with no accompanying lettering or wordmark. Its construction relies on Draplin’s signature thick-line drawing style, which reviewers have described as “trademark thick lines, bold type, and no-nonsense shapes.”[4] The heart form is rendered with uniform, heavy strokes, and the radiating lines emanate outward from the heart’s perimeter in a sunburst arrangement. No official color specification for the Emanating Heart version has been published; the related patch was offered in red-on-black and CMY process colorways.[1]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
