Long Beach student redesigns Canvas logo

BY NOAH GARCIA Staff Writer

A Long Beach State student has recently re-designed the logo for Canvas, the school’s online program.

The Academic and Technology services searched for students eager to redesign the logo. Academic and Technology services worked with Graphic Design Professor Tor Hovind and his students to develop a logo specific to CSULB.

Canvas is the online educational program used by the faculty to deliver course work and announcements to their students. CSULB has been transitioning from Beachboard due to the adoption of Canvas by the CSU system.

Professor Hovind said that he took the request and turned it into a project for his Advanced Graphic Design 423 class. Out of the 24 different logos, the design by Sandra Pulido won. Her design is symbolic and invokes the idea of The Walter Pyramid.

“How I go about for all my projects is looking at the back end, what everything stands for, like who I’m designing for and what they stand for,” said Pulido.

For this project, Pulido researched what would not only be visually striking, but would be easily understood and transferable on different formats. This includes making logos with different colors and creating assets which could be displayed on wider screens like smart T.V.s and smaller ones like smartphones.

This process is commonplace in graphic design, creating various versions of a logo for all kinds of digital and physical formats. Since Canvas is a program used across campus, the logo needed to be flexible in how it’s viewed and printed.

Laura Emery, communications specialist in Academic Technology Services at Long Beach State, came up with the idea of having a student-made logo.

“We really liked Sandra’s design because it represents. It’s got the Pyramid and it is simple and elegant,” said Emery. “She offered us a lot of different color choices and different ways that we can incorporate this logo into our marketing assets.”

After Pulido’s logo was accepted, the department offered her the chance to work with them as a student assistant during the summer of 2022.

Professor Hovind had his students create a marking strategy for the campus, having them consider how their work would be implemented into the campus. With the way the graphic design program is structured, it’s to allow students a chance to work on-campus and with agencies outside of the university to give the students real-world experiences.

Hovind said that Pulido’s work is an example of the type of professional work the graphic design bachelor’s program produces.

“That’s how we roll. I mean that’s, I don’t wanna say stereotypical, but she’s part of what we are as the BFA program is highly,” said Professor Hovind. “Behind all the other things, the brand, the marketing, they [the students] have to present as professionals.”

The Beach will officially convert completely over to the Canvas system this upcoming 2023 summer.