Logo #3: The Season I Went Monk Mode

My third logo was a quiet one.
It lasted from late 2021 to 2024.
It was the season I decided to level up in silence while everything around me burned.

It was also the same time I decided to fly back to Malaysia from Australia. My grandmother was battling cancer, and I knew it was the right thing to see her. The plan was simple: visit and return. But the borders closed, life shifted, and I felt stuck between two worlds.

I tried my best to adapt to the circumstances, but the pandemic, family illness and romantic complications made for a rocky mid-20s. One of the only things that kept me grounded were Mac Miller and my daily training sessions in a desolated gym. Anytime Fitness turned into Anyone Fitness.

Somewhere between my first N95 mask and third personal website, my grandmother died.
It was devastating, and made me I realise that I wasn’t as strong as I thought or as financially capable as I hoped.

The disappointment I felt turned into a wake-up call.
From then, I gave up my comfort crowd.
Social media, video games, alcohol, sex.
It was hard, but I doubled down by disabling my socials and unfollowed everyone.
I wanted to grieve alone. Not to spiral, but to recollect myself.

I didn’t have the words back then, but now I know: I was unlearning and rebuilding in solitude.

One rep. One lesson. One design at a time.

They call it Monk Mode online.
It sounds cringe reading it out loud, but it worked for me.

During this solitude, I…
- Learned how to meditate.
- Ran a half-marathon, then a full marathon.
- Continued my 6th year working out.
- Hit a new squat PR (120kg).
- Listened to podcasts.
- Built my third website.
- Learned basic coding, edit videos, explore 3D.
- Wrote blogs consistently.
- Grew out my hair and permed it.
- Picked up the basics of Muay Thai.
- Rode the motorcycle for the first time.
- Kept waking up at 5am every morning.
- Kept learning Japanese. Kept drawing.
- Kept going.

My moodboard when I was designing the logo

The logo’s inspiration

At some point, I stopped seeing my circumstances as limitations and starting seeing them as opportunities to grow. This thinking changed my headspace, and I believe it’s reflected within my logo too. I thought deeply about what I wanted it to represent – a trifecta. One that urged me to get back up from failure, own up to adulthood and level up professionally.

That aim led me to the Impossible Triangle, which felt symbolic to my struggles so I created my logo based off the concept, in combination of my initials and a bright orange to embody a positive and energetic mindset. I’ll dive further into my creative process soon. For now, here are some snippets from the past: