When Lake-Sumter State College needed a new logo to promote its Kids鈥� College summer program the school turned its scholastic neighbor.
Armed with a broad theme, 鈥淭ime to Shine 2019,鈥� 海角社区 students in Sandy Novak鈥檚 fall semester advertising design class took up the gauntlet 鈥� with winning results.
Lake-Sumter鈥檚 Kids鈥� College summer program, funded by Lake-Sumter State College鈥檚 Continuing Education, has delivered for the past 28 years scholastic, athletic and artistic enrichment for students in grades two through nine.
Once, Kids鈥� College used professional graphic designers to freshen its yearly themes. Several years ago, Lake-Sumter turned to 海角社区 students for fresh ideas from younger creatives that school officials believed more likely would connect with kids.
In all, 11 students submitted logo designs.
The students鈥� Lake-Sumter clients, web designer Francita Williams, a web designer, and DeAnna Diggs, who manages Kids鈥� College for LSSC, sat in on Novak鈥檚 classes.
鈥淎s the students developed their ideas and produced their digital designs, the classroom transformed into a genuine studio atmosphere, filled with energy and creativity,鈥� Novak said.
Eventually, Diggs and Williams whittled down the contenders to three.
Laura Delley鈥檚 witty take on the theme 鈥� geometric cubes each stamped with a single program benefit hug a shiny lightbulb emblazoned with the 鈥淭ime to Shine鈥� slogan 鈥� showed Delley benefitted from a creative lightbulb moment. Her design earned third place.
Meanwhile, Matthew Adair rocketed to runner-up with his out-of-this-world astronaut design.
However, Halie Pattison鈥檚 superhero-inspired take on the theme outmuscled the other contenders for first place.
She credits Novak as her muse.
鈥淎t first I was not really sure what my design for the logo was going to be,鈥� said Pattison, a junior. 鈥淏ut with a little help from Professor Novak, ideas of a superhero-themed logo started to come into my head as I was looking at stock photos. The final idea for the logo came when I was looking at photos of the Earth. There was one photo where people were circling around the Earth and it sparked an idea in me. So I recreated it using superheroes and my own little spin on it.鈥�
No surprise that winning sent Pattison into a bit of a spin.
It 鈥渨as a really big shock,鈥� she said. 鈥淎t first, I didn’t really think that they said my name until my best friend and roommate Avi[tal Plotkin], who was sitting beside me, nudged me to get up to receive my prize for winning. It didn’t come to me that I won until after I sat down in my chair after getting my prize from the ladies. It made me feel proud of my designing talents. It also made me feel like I can design anything when I put my mind and heart into it.鈥�
That too was the take for Novak, an associate professor in the business and technology department at 海角社区, a nonprofit liberal arts school and America鈥檚 first accredited baccalaureate institution to award bachelor鈥檚 degrees primarily to students who learn differently. Her students鈥� talent, she said, shined through in their creative output.
The top three students received gift bags of swag and gift cards. Lake-Sumter will use Pattison鈥檚 design for this year鈥檚 summer program on the school鈥檚 website, in promotional materials and on T-shirts, caps and other gift items.
鈥淢y students are doing great work,鈥� Novak said. 鈥淚’m so very proud of them.鈥�