When Mark Thoburn was approached to develop a logo for the Tea Party movement, he had a few reservations. However, the party made it clear that they wanted the logo to be able to stand alongside the elephant and donkey. Plus two additional requirements: create an animal that’s native to America and don’t make it wimpy, like the turkey. They ultimately settled on the bison.

“Rather than an icon of a bison I decided to only illustrate the head (above). While the overall feedback was positive, the client rejected them. They felt that it better suited a sports team mascot.”

“These concepts were very well received. There was much discussion on whether it needed to read “TEA” or not. I felt it was important to add it since it represented a new and emerging movement. I argued it could be dropped once it had been out for a while, but ultimately the client decided to drop it.”

“As we were finalizing everything I mentioned that I had created an additional concept but decided not to share it. Naturally, this piqued their curiosity and they asked if I would show it to them. The client absolutely loved it- they preferred its aggressive look to the more passive one. The colors were specifically chosen to represent both political parties, rather than a republican or democrat logo, and the star united the two. This got the final approval.”