In 1890, a year after its founding, the ASP designed its first logo. The fledgling organization wanted a logo embodying ASP’s mission – to spread the news about exciting astronomical discoveries to professional and lay audiences. The logo would grace ASP’s professional journals, membership certificates, and stationery.
Illustrator W. Lewis Frasier led the effort, and on January 31, 1891, the logo was approved by the ASP Board. It featured the Roman god, Mercury – messenger of the heavens – holding his iconic staff, wearing his familiar helmet, and running on winged feet on top of the clouds. The stars and a large crescent Moon served as his backdrop. Mercury’s right hand is raised high above his head, clearly signaling he has something very important to announce to the world.
This year, as we celebrate the 130 th anniversary of the ASP’s founding, we wanted to mark this accomplishment by refreshing our iconic logo for the digital age. Our current logo looked wonderful and was easy to read in print, but when it appeared on digital devices, was too detailed to appreciate. But while modernizing our iconic symbol, we wanted to make sure we didn’t abandon our roots or forget our illustrious history. In truth, our mission is essentially the same as it was 130 years ago – to bring the awe and wonder of astronomy to the world. So we felt it was vitally important to keep our beloved Mercury front and center. We also designed a second coordinating logo featuring the familiar acronym, ASP.
I am pleased and proud to present the ASP’s new logos. I want to thank David Barker Design for helping us create an image that is grounded in our past and takes us into the future. You’ll start seeing the new Mercury logos debuting in all of our publications and digital platforms over the next few weeks. Other changes are in the works as well – including a new and improved ASP website. Stay tuned and keep looking up.
