My Own Mark
The trademark of Photo Mirage Books has been called a rotary camera or a camera in a star. The center is the iris of a lens. Each star point is the bellows of a traditional, large-format camera, with a lens and cable release at each tip. The star motif offers a happy dilemma, variously interpreted as the quality of the the photographic work produced or as honor paid to both subject and audience.
The original drawing from my concept was a product test in the late 1970s of Auto-trol Technology’s Auto-Draft CAD mechanical drafting system for use with its cutting-edge digitizer, graphics workstation, and digital plotter—a monster flatbed machine bigger than a pool table.
I have used the logo with my arts signature on commercial work, signage, and all stationery and promotional materials for my photography studio and photographic arts production ever since. It was officially trade marked it in 1983.
Sara Frances signing a photo print for gallery exhibition
On gallery prints or when autographing books, I customarily hand stamp my logo with traditional scarlet ink, my interpretation of a Chinese signature chop seal. It has stood the test of time and design, similar to the endurance of Southwestern petroglyphs.