Smith 1871 Society identity: Phase 1

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

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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

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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

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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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T HE 1871 SO CIE T Y at smith college

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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