14 Dec 2009, Posted by Emmet

Nuacht Chláir logo

The Nuacht Chláir was established over twenty years ago, but it was only in the past few months that a logo was created for the publication. The newsletter is designed monthly by a young resident of Claregalway. He developed a new layout for the newsletter, created the new look website and designed the Nuacht Chláir logo, since starting work with the Nuacht Chláir in March 2009. All of this was done voluntarily as a service to the community.

The logo design process started with ideas of how to communicate a sense of heritage and locality within a small piece of text. The font chosen for the logo is Colmcille MT which was designed by a Gaelic scholar, typographer and printer, and first released for composition casting in 1936. This was chosen because of its roots in Gaelic life, as Claregalway is a part of the Gaeltacht.

The title ‘Nuacht Chláir’ was first coined back in 1990, when the newsletter was first produced by the Claregalway Community Development Association. Back then, the newsletter was printed on a single piece of paper and delivered to the residents in the area.

Translated from Gaeilge to English, ‘Nuacht Chláir’ means ‘News from the Clare’ as in the River Clare. With this in mind, the designer wanted to include some hint of a river flowing. Choosing to include a rather subtle hint, the letters ‘á’, ‘i’, and ‘r’ of ‘Chláir’ were modified to create a wave effect, as seen below.

The next element of the logo is the letter ‘a’ in ‘Nuacht’, which has been substituted by the window pattern found in the Franciscan Abbey in Claregalway (see below), the village’s most remarkable landmark.

The Abbey was built by John de Cogan in 1290 and consists of nave, choir, north aisle and transept, surmounted by a graceful tower, parts of which  remain in a good state of preservation.

The colour choice for the logo was green, as the colours of Claregalway GAA are green and yellow.