The Visual
Identity
Project
a graphic
designer and
professor from the
Art Institute of Boston
(AIB) at Lesley University, had
Identity is the focus of the mid- a working relationship with CFS.
dle-school visual arts program In meetings with school director,
at Cambridge Friends School Laraine Morin, middle-school art
(CFS) in Cambridge, Massachu- teacher Laurie Tennant-Gadd, and
setts. Sixth graders enter the middle Kristina, a plan emerged to create
school and design a personal logo as a graphic design team of sixth- and
their first major project in the art seventh-grade volunteers who would
studio. The logo work on devel-
becomes a way The design team understood that oping logo
for students the final decision rested with the ideas to pres- to introduce ent to a client
themselves to client even though, as a group, group (head of
their teachers they had a preferred design. school, lower
and to represent school direc-
who they are and what is important tor, and middle school director). The
to them. These logos are displayed in immediate goal of the project was to
our hall gallery and homeroom teach- create a new logo for the school, but
ers are invited to view the display just as important was the students’
and be quizzed on which logo belongs learning and understanding of graphic
to which student. So when it came design.
time for CFS to develop a new school
logo, administrators and teachers sup-
ported the idea of students designing
the logo.
Laurie Tennant-Gadd and
Kristina Lamour Sansone
Project meeting times were during
study hall periods for sixth and seventh graders. The project meetings
were held weekly and the same meeting space was set aside for the group.
Students were asked to take the commitment seriously, and once they had
committed to being part of the design
team, the CFS teacher was instrumental in supporting their attendance
in the group.
A Group Collaboration
Resident artists have had a history at
CFS and Kristina Lamour Sansone,
Organizing Meetings
A teaching team for the design group
included two graphic design experts
from AIB and a CFS teacher who
would be the onsite presence for the
project.
Students volunteered to be part
of this project during school time.
Developing a Design Team
The basics of graphic design were
central to the processs. The initial
work of the group was to learn about
graphic design. The fact that a professor and a college-aged art student
were introducing the material added
a serious and real element to the project.
Meeting the clients was critical
for the group. The group initially had
many personal ideas for a school logo.
After learning and thinking about
graphic design and logos, the group
met with their clients. At this point,
the student group became a graphic
design team because they had a
charge from the people who would be
viewing their final ideas and selecting the one that would become the
school’s logo.
The graphic design team surveyed
the school community, gathering
ideas to bring to their design meetings. The survey information had to
be collected and organized. From this
process, a number of ideas emerged
that would become the basis for the
designer’s visual work. The design
team took the ideas that emerged
