The story of the logo
A date of birth, turned into geometry.
The Masal Labs mark carries the date of birth of Masal, the child the company is named after. 09.10.2013. This page tells how that date became lines, and how the lines became a principle we work by.
The idea
A name, a date, a mark.
The starting idea was simple. A company born from a child's name should have a mark that carries that child's date of birth. But we wanted to draw the date, not write it. The numbers were to show themselves only to an eye that looks closely.
The first concept had a strong emotional pull. A circle split in two by an axis, a crescent of champagne-coloured light, a moon on the axis and a planet in orbit. Yet it had one gap. The numbers 09, 10 and 2013 could not be verified geometrically in the drawing.
The mark we use today was redrawn from scratch to close that gap. Every shape was built from full circles, circular sectors and rectangles, and every dimension became a multiple of a single unit, the module. The numbers stopped being a claim and became something you can measure.
Construction drawing
Numbers become a drawing.
The whole mark is drawn with a single unit of measure, the module (u). The drawing shows how the three parts of the date fit inside the mark.
Five meanings
Every dimension stands for something.
- 09
Beginning
The orbit radius is 9 modules. The left half, where the light falls, is divided into nine equal sectors of 20 degrees. The nine crescent pieces of the story mark come from these.
- 10
Journey
The axis carries 10 nodes, spaced 2 modules apart — two large end nodes and eight small ones. The moon rests on the fourth node.
- 2013
Foundation
The mark is drawn in a frame of 20 × 26 modules. It is 20 modules wide, and the axis runs 13 modules up and 13 modules down from the centre.
- —
Future
The moon and the planet share the same horizon (y = −3u). Human and machine stand on the same level.
- ½
Balance
A solid half and an open half around one axis. Depth and discovery, memory and imagination.
Story mark
Nine crescent pieces.
At large sizes, on signage and on splash screens, we use the story version of the mark. In this version, fine gaps divide the crescent of light into nine pieces, tracing the boundaries of the nine sectors. The smaller the mark, the less detail it carries. Below 24 pixels the moon is dropped as well, because at that size it reads like an information icon.
Colours
Night, light and paper.
The palette comes from the mark itself. Deep navy is the night, champagne gold is the crescent of light, and ivory is the paper we write on.
Deep Navy#1C2733
Night. The primary colour. Trust, depth and engineering. Used in the logo, in headings and on dark surfaces.
Champagne Gold#C9A46A
Light. The colour of the crescent. Used sparingly, it never covers more than a tenth of any surface.
Sand#D9CEBC
Balance. A warm neutral. For secondary surfaces and dividers.
Ivory#F5F0E8
Paper. The default background. Used instead of pure white on brand surfaces.
Anthracite#2B2D31
Stability. A neutral dark. For text, interfaces and hardware surfaces.
Night Ink#0F151D
Depth. The darkest surface. The background of the dark theme and of signage at night.
Wordmark
Letters, not a typeface.
“masal” and “LABS” are not set in a typeface. They are custom letters, built from the same circles and verticals as the symbol. Beneath the lowercase, rounded, geometric “masal” sits a widely spaced “LABS”. Story and laboratory, on the same axis.
Craft
From drawing to principle.
Exact vectors
Every shape is a precise combination of circles, sectors and rectangles. There is no hand-drawn wobble.
Works in one colour
Thanks to the gaps that separate its elements, the mark can be used in a single colour for embroidery, engraving and foil stamping.
Four tiers, one geometry
The primary, story, compact and micro versions all come from the same drawing. The smaller the size, the less detail.
Measured clear space
Around the mark we leave clear space the size of the moon — four modules. The space is not arbitrary. It is part of the geometry.
One effect: light
No shadows, gradients or glows. The only effect allowed is the glowing symbol of a backlit sign.
Let's write the rest of the story together.
Come to us with an idea, a question or a project left half-finished.