The Ant and the Design

An ant has no self-interest. As an individual, an ant has a fragile existence. It can carry several times its own mass and works in a team within a highly structured organization. Although not unique, it is indispensable. It is small, and will always remain small. The ant symbolizes Estefa’s nature of working hard in a co-operative structure to build something without feeling the need to change the identity of the whole within which it works.

Estefa strives for clarity and simplicity, without flourish or curlicue. The sleek, unadorned icon of the ant amplifies recognition. It is plain and clear, eliminating superfluous details. In the logo design, the ant’s antennae stretch out of the frame, symbolizing the approach of thinking outside the box and connecting to the outside world.

Studies have concluded that ants can inspire large companies in finding management solutions without resorting to authoritarian direction. Some international companies have taken an example from ants in adapting their organizational structure. Estefa uses some of such theories in taking decisions related to its management structures.

The logo design was originally a conceptual visualization for a project, The Management Support Group (MSG), which gave birth to many of the concepts on which Estefa is founded. The original design by Sebastiaan ter Burg was in black and white, to keep the concept as straightforward as possible. As the concept of Estefa developed, it became clear that the use of the colour blue would be inevitable, representing the company’s strong ties to Europe. The colour green appears in some of Estefa’s styles, symbolizing the Arabic and Islamic world in which Estefa has a solid network of business relations. Estefa chose its image to be clear and unambiguous, symbolizing the approach that Estefa strives to achieve.