Designer: 81st Indonesian Independence Day Logo Inspired by Founding Fathers' Perspective

The winner of the 81st Republic of Indonesia Independence Day logo design, Fajar Novario, has revealed that the design process was inspired by the perspective of the nation’s founders in interpreting Indonesia’s diversity. ‘We took the view of the founding fathers. We positioned ourselves as the founding fathers of Indonesia in the past, when they formulated Pancasila,’ Fajar said when contacted on Wednesday. Fajar explained that he and his team initially tried to incorporate dozens of symbols and visuals deemed representative of the theme ‘Sovereign, Just, and Prosperous’. ‘We received quite harsh criticism from the association, because it was too ambitious and too much of a stretch, so to speak,’ Fajar said. He then restarted the creative process and tried to adopt the perspective of the nation’s founders when they formulated the state ideology. Fajar subsequently drew inspiration from reading the thoughts of the founding fathers regarding shared destiny, unity, and love for the homeland. ‘We tried to make these three relevant to the current design style and theme. From those three instruments, they formulated Pancasila,’ said the graduate of the Visual Communication Design department at Padang State University. However, this approach was not manifested directly in the logo’s visual form, but rather became a way of thinking in searching for a symbol capable of representing Indonesia’s diversity. He ultimately chose to present a simple, firm visual form that is open to various public interpretations. Fajar explained that the intersecting figure eight in the logo symbolises collectivity, mutual cooperation, and synergy between layers of society. Meanwhile, the connection between the figures eight and one illustrates growth towards a common goal. Fajar said he deliberately did not create a logo with an overly specific meaning so that people from various cultural backgrounds could interpret it according to their own experiences. ‘Whatever the public interprets, the point is that it unites us,’ he said. He added that the logo was also designed with readability and ease of application in mind so it can be widely used across various media. ‘We made it as easy as possible for the public to accept, easy to see, and easy to apply,’ he said. Fajar, originally from Padang, West Sumatra, who is also the co-founder of Auman Design Bureau and the initiator of Padang Desain Area, was selected as the winner of the 81st Indonesian Independence Day logo after going through a series of selection stages, from portfolio curation and interviews to intensive mentoring and a public vote. Fajar’s design received 44.73 percent of the total 68,569 votes cast during the five-day voting period. Through his logo design, Fajar promoted the concept of ‘Collective, Synergy, Growth’. His design beat four other logo options, including a design by David Wirawan from Surakarta, Central Java, with the concept ‘8 Hopes, 1 Goal’, and a design by Kanda Putra from Denpasar, Bali, which promoted the concept of ‘Connected Humanity’. Also shortlisted were a design by Rizkiawan from Malang, East Java, which promoted the concept of ‘Empowered, Equal, Synergised Together’, and a design by Tiffany Djohan from Batam, Riau Islands, which promoted the concept of ‘Democracy and Independence’.