LOGO DESIGN
Honoring Tradition, Embracing Innovation
BLACK TEACHING TRADITION™ INSTITUTE
The Black Teaching Tradition™ Institute for Pedagogical Genius is a program of The Lesesne Collective, a nonprofit that works to increase recruitment, reduce attrition, and expand advancement among Black teachers dedicated to the love, genius, and liberation of Black students.
I designed this suite of logos for the Institute, pulling inspiration from imagery of Rosenwald Schools, Lone-Star-style quilt patterns, and North Carolina’s flowering dogwood trees, as well as the civil rights poster designs of the 60s and 70s.
The Project
The team at the Black Teaching Tradition Institute knew that they wanted their logo to incorporate a Rosenwald School. They shared a photo of the Pleasant Plains School in North Carolina (shown above). They loved this particular image, shot by Andrew Feiler for his book A Better Life for Their Children, because the bay of trees around the schoolhouse made it feel grounded, nurturing and safe.
They wanted the logo to feel somewhat formal and academic, but not too collegiate, and it needed to work on a wide range of print and digital materials.
They also liked the idea of connecting it in a subtle way to a sense of revolution.
My Approach
I drew inspiration from vintage civil rights posters and universities. The final logo system uses a tall, stacked gothic font and repeating, softened geometric shapes, with some more hand-done elements used in merchandise or other brand pieces.
The logo features a Rosenwald schoolhouse with six-paned windows to represent the First Six: the six schools that piloted the Rosenwald program.
The trees, constructed from rounded diamond shapes, are inspired by quilt patterns and flowering dogwood trees, North Carolina’s state flower. For the soft, organic, geometric patterns, I found inspiration in quilts.
THE PRIMARY LOGO
Warm, deep black and gray, accented by barn red and cream reference the classic and revolutionary color palette of black, red, and white.
Bold and slightly collegiate-inspired, the rounded, tall gothic type echoes the shapes of the schoolhouse and its windows. This type, stacked, is a subtle design reference to some 60s and 70s civil rights posters.
The red inlay on the schoolhouse creates an icon that serves as the heart of the logo system.
Rounded diamonds form a bay of dogwood trees around the schoolhouse, symbolic of strength, growth and protection. The shape is also reminiscent of quilt patterns: a prominent part of Black history and a symbol of intergenerational learning.
