The Visual Identity Project

By Alison Keehn

(excerpted from the winter 2006 Cadbury Courier)

For several years, the CFS community has asked for a new school logo, one that would not only reflect the mission of the school but also its day-to-day environment. And who could be better to take on this task than the students themselves, the people who know CFS inside and out. Thus was born the Visual Identity Project—VIP. Its objective was to assemble a team of students who would engage in a collaborative design process and come up with a strong selection of ideas that would visually represent CFS.

A group of eleven sixth- and seventh-graders eagerly rose to the challenge. Working with Kristina Lamour, a professor at the Art Institute of Boston, Matt St. Gelais, a design student, and me, the students engaged in an extensive design process of research, brainstorming, and image creation. To capture the essence of CFS, the members of the team decided to step outside their own student viewpoints and to look at the school community as if they were investigating a different culture. The team studied the history of the school, interviewed members of the administration, and talked with students and teachers to find out how they envisioned CFS. Sitting at tables covered with paper and drawing whatever came into their minds, the team channeled themes into hundreds of images.

In May 2005, the team selected five of their best images to present to the school administration, which chose one as the school’s official visual identity. It just so happens that it was the VIP team’s favorite, too.

This image will go through a “completion” phase in which designers will tweak it until it is ready to use on all formal school material. CFS will then have a new visual identity to call its own.