What is The Hidden Archive?
The YouTube channel finally got a rebrand.
I realised two years ago that my YouTube page was starting to feel uncurated. The simple truth was that being multidisciplinary, and wanting to explore a wide variety of mediums, had led to a kind of anti-niching.
In my own way, I was navigating the principle of correspondence. In creative abstraction terms, that essentially means gaining an understanding of multiple fields and then connecting the dots between them to deepen my understanding of creativity as a whole.
That said, I realised that on the surface, this focus was beginning to look unclear. So I split the channel into three: one for music, one for creative tutorials, and one for the exploration of myth, technology, storytelling and ideas.
And I really got drawn into this new direction.
Since the switch-up, I’ve created two series. The first is The Hidden Archive, a documentary-style video essay series covering a wide range of topics; from UFOs and the Gnostic creation story to the hidden psychological patterns that repeat across human history.
I also have Field Notes, which is a more raw, presentation-led educational format that I record from my desk rather than the studio. These are pocket investigations into subject matters that keep me curious about the world.
I briefly want to talk about the creative direction behind the rebrand.
The logo itself is heavily inspired by occult symbolism. The further I dig into the subject of psychology, the more occult themes tend to emerge. I find that a lot of old occult symbols lack readability, though, so I wanted to make The Hidden Archive logo feel less complex.
There’s a dual meaning to the logo design. Carl Jung’s Red Book has had a huge influence on my life, and there’s a vision he has about a well at the top of a mountain. From this well flows water, which acts as a metaphor for wisdom. That knowledge travels down from the peak to all those who seek it.
There’s a small circle at the top of the peak in the logo. The lines travelling down around the silhouette of the person signify that movement of information. The silhouette receives the wisdom at the centre and sits within the target of an outside force.
The message is really this: if you watch this channel, you will be targeted with new ideas.
The split silhouette represents balance. The teal colour represents the water from above, while the contrasting gold suggests that the ideas explored on the channel hold real-world value.
To people outside of the creative industry, the logo might just look like random lines and circles, or maybe an alien getting abducted. But it has been crafted with intention. And if you’re a curious mind, now you know what it represents.
I plan on running The Hidden Archive channel in the background as an outlet for expression, but also as a place where I can provide value to those who want to gain a better understanding of the world we exist within, and how we can get the most out of it.
