The Circle of Life
As a young professional, the working world likes to remind you of the importance of networking. While somewhat terrifying when I was younger, the task feels much less daunting as my network grows, and as I realize the importance of it. Nearly all of my freelance work thus far has been the result of a personal connection. A friend or a coworker who believes in me and my work and then connects to me to someone who needs some help.
My most recent project is perhaps not a great example of a “network” result, since it goes back to before I could spell “network.”
As a four-year-old, I attended a preschool a few miles away from my childhood home. Here are some of my earliest memories—my first favorite teacher, my first “boyfriend,” my first best friend. Here too are some of my earliest memories of creating art.
So when 15 or so years later I was in my first college design class, and I needed a logo to redesign for an assignment, that preschool—Northbrook—seemed like the perfect choice. When I was in elementary school my mom became a teacher at Northbrook, and I had used it as a “client” for an independent study in high school. It was an organization that I felt I knew well and hoped I could help.
I was pleased with the design I produced, and so was the preschool director. I offered to let her use it if ever they did a rebrand. The rebranding never came, so the logo found a cozy home in my portfolio.
Logo redesign - 2014
After a few years, the director retired around the same time that the church associated with the preschool went through a rebranding of its own. As the director left, she let her replacement know about the logo I created—an important note since the preschool was now updating its website to modernize with the church.
In modernizing, though, they didn’t just want a new logo—for the preschool it truly was a rebrand. They were moving away from some of the brand elements upon which my college logo relied. So when the new director contacted me asking me to come up with a new design, I was, in many ways, starting over.
As I visited the new website, I often came across repeating themes: exploration, curiosity, nature, respect, curiosity. I used these ideas and the direction that they wanted the “t” to resemble a cross to come up with a few options. After a few options and some feedback, we came up with a friendly, natural design.
Redesigned logo - 2018
BONUS: a few more “network” jobs:
