Congratulations to Jordan Barno, a Studio Arts major and winner of College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) 2020 Connections Project logo contest! Barno’s logo submission was chosen out of over 50 entries and earned her the $150 prize. Her design was chosen for its originality, branding, and usability. The new logo will be featured in all upcoming Connections Project marketing for 2020.
Barno moved to Idaho when she was six years old, and while she was homeschooled, she did take some classes from various places which included a graphic design class for three years during high school at the Dennis Technical Education Center. She will transfer to Boise State University to pursue a degree in graphic design after graduation this May. While discussing her years of homeschooling, Barno said she felt CWI was the perfect jump from homeschooling because of the small class sizes and being able to get to know her teachers better.
Barno first heard about the logo competition in one of her art classes where a member of the Connections Project was visiting and was wearing a t-shirt with last year’s logo on it. When the competition was mentioned, she thought to herself, “I could do that!”
Her logo inspiration came from the Connections Project motto, “Connect, Educate, Inspire” and her CWID (Connection with Ideas) course. The words connect and connection in these instances led her to think of lines, further leading her to think of the geometric design used for the logo.
Once her design was chosen, Barno was given the opportunity to work with the College’s Communications and Marketing team to further develop the logo. Development included adding color and changing the back of the design originally meant to look like pieces of the brain coming together, but could have been misinterpreted as pieces falling off. The completed geometric design of the brain gives a feeling of connection.
Karen Brown, Assistant Professor of Art History and Humanities, helped create the Connections Project logo design competition two years ago. Brown shared this method of choosing a logo “provides a way for students to gain experience and understanding of how marketing works at the College, in addition to some of the complexities of designing a logo and presenting it to the public”.
The logo selection process begins when student submissions are sent through an anonymous jurying process. The jurors consist of members of the Connections Project team including staff, faculty, and students. Once members have chosen their top three or four entries, these votes are pooled together to determine the finalists. The Connections Project team then collaborates with Communications and Marketing to choose the most viable image.
The Connections Project logo contest provides the opportunity for students, like Barno, to shepherd their design from the initial stages, to a product that will appear on ephemeral objects such as the webpage, as well more permanent ones like posters, programs, and t-shirts. Keep an eye out for future updates regarding this year’s Connections Project which will be held at the Nampa Campus Academic Building on April 23, 2020. This event is free and open to the public.