SPNN Youth Action Committee designs new youth logo

Tue, 10/16/2012 - 9:30am

Youth Action Committee members discuss options for new logo

By Nicola Pine, SPNN Youth Programs Director

You may have noticed recently that SPNN Youth has a new look, as in, a new logo now being used on our website, Facebook page, and outreach materials. What you may not know, is how this new logo came to be. Last year, after SPNN went through the process of creating a new logo for the entire organization, SPNN Youth Programs realized that we needed a new logo too. It was not enough to just take the SPNN logo and add the word “Youth” to it, which is what our logo became in the interim. We wanted something that was “youth-friendly” - capturing the energy, creativity, and fun embodied by our youth media programs.

To accomplish this, we decided it would be most fitting if youth from our programs were involved in the process of creating the new logo. We asked our Youth Action Committee (YAC) members if they were up to the challenge and they responded with an enthusiastic, yes! We then asked John Seymour-Anderson of Triangle Park Creative, the graphic designer who created the new SPNN logo, to help us develop our design.

Over the course of eight weeks, John met with our Youth Action Committee members and Youth Programs staff to generate ideas and get feedback. The process was very collaborative, with lots of discussion and dialogue. We talked about how the logo would be used for outreach purposes. How would it look against different colored backgrounds? How would the outline look on our channels? Would it still be

readable in different sizes? The process ended up becoming somewhat of an intro to best practices in graphic design for many of the youth, but they were still able to be creative in expressing what SPNN Youth is and what messages the new logo should communicate - some ideas were "fun, youthful, a broad definition of media, and connected to SPNN but different." Then, we brainstormed on how to represent these ideas visually. Many YAC members are visual artists and felt most comfortable expressing their ideas as drawings. Others looked at logos from other youth organizations for inspiration.

John took all of the group's ideas, and came back a few weeks later with about eight options. After some feedback from the group, we began to narrow it down, and eventually, over the course of a few more meetings and revisions, one logo emerged as the strongest contender. This logo, originally conceived by Destiny, a YAC and Set It Up member, appealed to people because it conveyed the message that our programs are about creating media, but also about having voice, connecting with people, and being part of Saint Paul.

We are excited about our new logo and proud of the process we went through to come up with it. Thanks to all of the YAC members for their great ideas and willingness to stick with the process. And thanks to John for his part too! We hope you like this new logo as much as we do. We are excited to hear what you think, so let us know!

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SPNN Youth