This is a common question that I thought I’d go ahead and solve the mystery!

It all started as I (Jill) was graduating from college back in 1999. My photographer friend Kyle, and I were sitting in a school bus (full of art students) for hours on winding roads weaving through Germany. We were getting ready to enter the “real” world and we wanted a company to be able to pursue our freelance opportunities on the side.

Having different backgrounds, we wanted something that would showcase our versatility. We thought the fly’s eye, reflecting in so many directions, was the perfect idea. The ability to create that look you want, no matter the medium, was key. Since then I have discovered additional facts about flies that make it even more interesting and fun. Here are the original sketches for our idea:

After the trip we ran to the computer lab and whipped up the first Flyeye Design logo:

I used this logo for quite some time. Eventually though, I had too many comments about it being “spooky”. Kyle and I no longer work together but I feel the idea of seeing in many directions is still applicable. I wanted to keep the idea the same, and so in 2006 I designed the current happier fly and included the fly eye’s hexagonal shape.

That is the end of the story!

For those that are curious, here are older versions of the flyeyedesign.com site:

1999-2002

2002-2005

2005-2007

-Jill Harner