Design Brief Create a logo, stationery system and “thank you” gift package for Smith’s most generous donors
Ide n t it y Pr o gr a m for The 1871 So cie t y at Sm it h Col l e ge Phase 1
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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Phase 1 Logo research and exploration, along with possible applications Phase 2 Once an identity direction is chosen, related stationery, gift and collateral material will be researched, developed and presented
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What not to do
Unique to Smith College
Historical context
Existing 1871 typographic logos
Traditions and Landmarks
Art and visual trends of 1871
Existing college society logos
Founder and Alumnae
Existing Smith College logos
Smith’s current branding
Summary
Research Before we delve into logo ideas, we need to review what’s been done before for similar institutions, what is unique about Smith and this particular society, and—since the society’s name is derived from Smith’s founding year—what might be historically relevant.
Research Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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What not to do: Existing 1871 typographic logos If we pursue “1871” as the primary logo graphic, it can’t resemble other logos that share that typograhic trait. 1871 is the home of more than 400 early-stage, high-growth digital startups in Chicago. The name was inspired by the building and innovation that followed the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. There are hundreds of variation on the 1871 stencil logo shown here. 1871 House is a bed and breakfast in New York City. They have a few typographic versions of their name on their website but neither is much of a logo, per se. 1871 on Twitter. We should keep in mind possible venues for The 1871 Society identity, particulary social media
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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What not to do: Existing college society logos If we pursue “1871” or “The 1871 Society” as the primary logo graphic, it shouln’t resemble the logos of similar giving societies at other colleges. Many of these are purely generic type solutions, incorporating script or serif typefaces to evoke a historic and/or elegant brand. A few include imagery related to the college, like a significant architectual feature of the campus. Several giving societies feature imagery related to tradition, growth or philanthropy. Trees, laurels, and and flowers are common symbols.
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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What not to do: Existing Smith College logos If we pursue imagery or typography unique to Smith, we should avoid using anything already claimed by other Smith associations, groups or campaigns. That said, our logo certainly can work in concert with the current Smith brand. Several colors, fonts, and design sensibilities have been used over the years. The most common symbol used is a silhouette of the Grecourt Gates, often with College Hall appearing behind them.
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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Ivy Day Roses and Alumnae Parade
Ivy Day planting
Illumination Night
Friday Afternoon Tea
Lanning Fountain and Paradise Pond
Heritage Trees
Stained Glass College Seal
Botanic Garden and Olmsted grounds plan
College Hall, Nielson Library, Seelye Hall...
Museum of Art and Archives
The Smith College Medal and Rally Day
Mountain Day
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
© ACNE DESIGN LLC
Unique to Smith College: Traditions and Landmarks When we consider the visual identity and “thank you” gift of The 1871 Society, there is a wealth of untapped material to reference.
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Sophia Smith c. 1858, Founder
Sophia Smith c. 1868, Founder
Julia Child, celebrity chef
Sylvia Plath, author
Gloria Steinam, author and feminist
Betty Friedan, author and feminist
Nancy Reagan, former First Lady
Tammy Baldwin, U.S. State Senator
Hanya Yanagihara, author
Joan White Harris, patron of the arts
Carol Osuchowski Selle, philanthropist
Florence R. Sabin, scientist
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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Unique to Smith College: Founder and Alumnae Sophia Smith (1796-1870) founded Smith College with the substantial estate she inherited from her father and siblings. The first woman in America to endow a college for women, she believed that women’s power for good would “be incalculably enlarged” by higher education. Notable Alumae include famous chefs, Pulitzer Prize winners, political columnists, feminists, environmental researchers, film directors, venture capitalists, physicists, poets, playwrights, CEOs, and—of course—patrons and philanthropists. Also included are several “firsts” for women in positions of power.
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Trajan Column detail
Unique to Smith College: Smith’s current branding The Trajan font family was designed for Adobe in 1989 by Carol Twombly. It is based on the letterforms used for the inscription at the base of the Trajan Column in Rome, Italy. Trajan is used for campus signage and many of Smith’s logo variations (but not all.)
Trajan Column lettering detail
Trajan Column lettering as diagramed by typeface designer Eric Gill
The official color of Smith College is white, often trimmed with gold. White, with its poetic overtones of purity, is linked to the official seal of the college, which features the motto “To Virtue, Knowledge.” The athletic teams, who need a dark color for their away uniforms, compete in blue and white; and the college’s official stationery carries the college logo in blue and yellow.
Trajan Bold used for Smith logo
Official color: White, with gold trim
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
Sports: Blue and white, with variations
Official Seal variations
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1st Gilbert and Sullivan opera premieres
Historical context: Culture and art of 1871 In addition to Smith College’s founding, 1871 saw the premieres of significant operas, paintings, and major artistic movements.
Aida opera premieres in Egypt
Woman in White theater poster art
Arts and Crafts movement in full swing
Beginning of the Belle Époque
The Somnambulist painting
William Morris dominates decorative arts
“Whistler’s Mother” painting
Dance Class (1871) painting by Degas
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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Most of the art and design from this period is in the public domain and copyright-free. We can use it in our identity and collateral materials. We can find iconic women, ivy, roses, women in white, and elegant, sophisticated design.
Arts & Crafts typography
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The Society
Smith
1871
Philanthropic
Ivy Day and Roses
Foundational
Paying It Forward
Illumination Night
Sophia Smith
Giving Back
Friday Afternoon Tea
Arts and Crafts
Generational
Botanical Garden
The Belle Époque
Sisterhood
Heritage Trees and grounds
Women in White
Silver Spoons
Pioneering Alumnae
William Morris
Past & Future
The Seal
History and culture
Growth
Branding, colors and font
Roots
Nurturing
Art and architecture
In the beginning
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
© ACNE DESIGN LLC
Summary The logo, identity, and “thank you” package for The 1871 Society should be thoughtful and original. It can reference one or many of the concepts embodied by the “keywords” on the left.
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Identity Ideas
Gift ideas
Belle Époque
Certificates
Photographic logos
Unique to Smith
Cornerstone
1871 Artifacts
The Seal
Shadowbox
Exploration For each idea, I’m presenting the logo mark alone and then following up with supporting text options and various other ideas for expanding the identity beyond the logo.
Exploration Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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Belle Époque typography These elegant, feminine letterforms can be printed large while maintaining their sophisticated proportions. They resemble organic, vine-like flora and would work well with ivy and rose imagery. For stationery or other printed materials, it can simply be “blind embossed” with no color, just white on white. Or, it can be foil stamped and embossed in gold. Either way, Smith’s official color of pure white, or white with gold trim, would be communicated in a bespoke, simple type solution that is aligned to its many origins.
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
© ACNE DESIGN LLC
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T H E 1 8 7 1 S O C I E T Y AT S M I T H C OL L E G E
Belle Époque sensibility There is a number of ways to expand on themes of simplicity, elegance, interconnectedness, femininity, subtlety, purity, and the era of Smith’s founding. Low-cost, short-run, online printing services allow us to exploit different surfaces, inks and textures. For digital or more traditional applications, we can use other elements of Smith’s branding with regard to the diamond shape, colors, and Trajan font. A pattern can be used for lined envelopes, wrapping paper, etc.
The 1871 can be used as a watermark for stationery
THE
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Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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Small logo mark and supporting text options
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Photographic logos In today’s world of digital imagery and full-color printing, stationery and logos no longer need to be printed in just one or two colors. By juxtaposing modern, 3D “found” letters against flat backgrounds, we span generations and join icons of history, college and giving. The felt and embroidered collegiate letters are bold and unexpected against William Morris’ ivy patterns. The tree rings mark the passing of time, growth from 1871 to today, and reference Smith’s Heritage Trees. The silver spoon represents the privilege that The 1871 Society provides to those students who weren’t born into it.
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
© ACNE DESIGN LLC
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Photographic logos The beauty of using threedimensional objects and lettering in the imagery is that we can provide the actual objects with the “thank you” package. Whether it’s a silver spoon with a custom message, a cross-section of a tree trunk fashioned into a cheese board, or collegiate felt letters directly applied to a framed document.
THE 1871 SOCIETY
SMITH COLLEGE
Joan White Harris recognizes the generosity of
with a life-long membership to The 1871 Society
We can apply the actual embroidered letters to each certificate of appreciation
Collegiate felt & embroidered letters can be printed and embossed with the William Morris ivy pattern on the back
THE 1871 SOCIETY at s m i t h c o l l eg e
Small logo mark and supporting text options
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
SMITH the 1871 societ y
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This is an antique locket that we can buy on etsy and give to your most generous donor
THE 1871 SOCIETY
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Cornerstone A cornerstone is the first stone laid on which the rest of a building is built on. It is often chiseled with the date of a building’s formation, sometimes in roman numerals. The connections to the Trajan Column and the foundational aspects of The 1871 Society should be apparent. There are several directions here, showing that a logo can be symbolic or realistic.
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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THE 1871 SOCIETY
T HE 1871 SO CIE T Y at smith college
at S m i t h C ol l e g e
Cornerstone It might seem oblique but in our letter to donors, we can provide exposition and praise for being the metaphorical cornerstone of Smith.
MDCCCLXXI We can play with embossing/debossing on the letterhead and printed materials
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Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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Small logo mark and supporting text options
THE 1871 SOCIETY
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MDCCCLXXI THE 1871 SOCIET Y
We can position an embossed logo in the actual corner of the stationery
C O
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The Seal Like the other photographic logos, we could take a new hi-res photo of the stained-glass seal and use it as the logo mark for everything. The band of text around the image contains Smith’s name, founding year, and Latin motto. It’s all self-contained. Alumnae are undoubtedly familiar with this historic, colorful icon.
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
© ACNE DESIGN LLC
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T HE 1871 SO CIE T Y
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SOCIET Y
The Seal The fact that it’s transparent and allows light to shine through also speaks to Illumination Night. It can be applied to vellum stationery, drinking glasses, or a replica stained glass window ornament.
A modern collage of traditional imagery can be used for custom wrapping paper, etc.
Full-color printing on vellum, onion skin or even acetate feels archival
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Small logo mark and supporting text options
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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The seal can be embossed with a gold foil ring on some documents and full color on digital images
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JOAN WHITE HARRIS is recognized as an honored member of THE 1871 SOCIETY for her generous support of SMITH COLLEGE and its mission to provide an excellent education to all women of the world
SMITH COLLEGE
Joan White Harris
Certificates There are many certificate types that might be expected by big donors. A certificate of membership, appreciation, or accomplishment are customary.
recognizes the generosity of
with a life-long membership to The 1871 Society
President, Smith College
Date
Certificate of appreciation/membership/recognition “Authentic Smith ivy leaf” preserved in glass or wax paper in clear box
They are usually produced with the same care as a college diploma. Maybe we can work with Barry Moser or other Smith departments to achieve consistency and quality befitting a Smith sheepskin but still more exclusive and unique. We can also style it like an Arts and Crafts design, perhaps with a quote from Sophia Smith, like this one; “May I have the gift of Charity and give liberally as my means and duty demand of me.”
Example of an appreciation/membership certificate
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
Example of a membership certificate with embossed gold seal
Example of a diploma cover stamped with gold seal
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Handmade ivy earrings or jewelery
Preserved ivy leaf ornament
Silver spoon with custom messages
Friday Afternoon Tea set or tea cups
Gift ideas unique to Smith and/or The 1871 Society When we consider the visual identity of The 1871 Society and Smith’s traditions, we should think of something more exclusive than what donors typically receive for a “thank you” gift. These can all be branded with engraved plates, stickers, enameled logos, hangtags, and/or gift-wrap.
Collection of books by famous Smithies
Cheese board tree rings
Seal replica ornament or glass votive
Updated scarf with Ivy or Olmsted plan
Opera Glasses
Stationery set with custom wax seal
Concrete paperweights or coasters
The Woman Card(s)
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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1871 Artifacts We can search etsy for other things created in 1871. These gifts are one-of-a-kind and speak to the world as it was when Smith was founded—a world of beauty, discovery, and artisanship.
REED & BARTON 1871 GEM Teaspoon
Silver amulet necklace GermanPrussian War 1871 1871 Moon Lunar Surface engraving
1871 Seated Liberty Quarter Beauties of Modern British Poetry by David Grant 1871 Washington DC 1871 Bird’s Eye View
They can be highly personalized. You can give a politician a print of Washington D.C. as it appeared in 1871, a scientist an engraving of the Lunar Surface as documented in 1871, and so on. This shows more thought and consideration to your donors than a typical “custom executive gift” that everyone gets. We can also provide a gift of something old and unique from Smith’s archives directly related to an Alumna’s years there.
1871 Eleventh edition “New System of Educating Horses”
1871 Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine Bound
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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Shadowbox For some of the larger donors, we can create a package of several items relevant to their interests and put them in a display case.
Identity Progra m for The 1871 Society
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