The Great AniFem Makeover: Rebranding Edition

We’ve been teasing this for a while and it’s finally a reality: AniFem has rebranded with shiny new logos and our very own crest!

Our talented artist, Katy Castillo (@harleygin), took Dee’s rough concept and used her design powers to turn it into a logo we’re thrilled to call our own: a little classy, a little cute, a little prickly, and packed with nods to the feminist-minded media we love.

For the site crest, we wanted to highlight the AniFam’s dual-roles as writers and activists while also hearkening to the history of feminist-leaning Japanese pop culture. 

With that in mind, we chose a crossed pencil and sword as the core of the design. The pencil is (perhaps obviously) to highlight the written articles that form the foundation of AniFem, while the sword links numerous influential progressive shoujo works, from Princess Knight to Rose of Versailles to Revolutionary Girl Utena.

The thorny yellow rose is multi-layered: it’s a nod to Yoshiya Nobuko, influential queer shoujo novelist; a symbol of the Power of Friendship that wins the day in so many of our favorite series; and a reminder that intersectional feminism can and should have a balance of sharp and soft edges.

And the sparkles… well, come on. What magical guardian worth their salt would transform without a sparkle or two?

We’ll be using variants of this central logo across the entire brand, including our Chatty AF podcast, where we’ve oh-so-cleverly swapped out the pencil for a microphone and added some soundwaves for good measure.

If you’re as excited about this rebranding as we are, AniFam, we’ve got more good news: a variety of shiny new products in the AniFem Store! Whether you want “Anime Feminist” emblazoned across your chest for the world to see or prefer a more subtle sigil-only approach, we’ve got you covered with shirts, totes, mugs, and more.

So why not mosey on over to the AniFemporium and see if anything catches your eye?

(And yes, we are looking into offering enamel pins, keychains, and patches in the future, we just gotta find the right manufacturer first. But someday, we swear!)

Thanks once more to our terrific designer Katy; to last summer’s anonymous donor whose contributions helped make this rebranding possible; and to all our patrons, readers, and listeners who have stuck with us through thick and thin and oh-so-many years of amateur logo work. We’re happy to at last give you the kickass design you deserve.

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Editor’s Note: This article was updated after publication to correct details about the sword in the logo.