Back to Godhead—the words appeared in chunky letters, arranged in the style of a banner. Back to what? Why such a strange and technical word? Why not just God? Why not just Krishna? Or why not a friendlier, more congenial title altogether?
Again it seems that Srila Prabhupada had something particular to say. This was to be not a magazine just about God, the Supreme Lord on high, but about Godhead: the Absolute Truth, the supreme reality, the ultimate source of everything. That ultimate truth was God, all right, but God understood both personally and philosophically. It was God as Krishna—but Krishna not as a hero, or a symbol, or a myth, but Krishna understood deeply, in truth.
Back to Godhead was to deal with what Srila Prabhupada called the science of Krishna, a science he had learned from his spiritual master. And so Srila Prabhupada placed a picture of his spiritual master in the logo too, at the lower right-hand corner.
And finally a slogan: "Godhead is light. Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no nescience." Nescience—not the commonest of words either. But that was it. Nescience—darkness, ignorance, not knowing—as to be dispelled by knowledge, by light, by Godhead.
After Back to Godhead came to the West and Srila Prabhupada put his disciples in charge of it, we made some changes: New artwork of Lord Chaitanya and the people facing him replaced the original crude silhouettes. A picture of Srila Prabhupada replaced that of his spiritual master. But we've always kept the original idea.
It's not what anyone would come up with at a New York graphic design shop. It doesn't get the nod from our friend the marketing wiz. It may look too naive, too fervent, too evangelical. But it's the logo Srila Prabhupada gave us, a logo with a lot to say.