After twenty-nine years of existence at Hostos Community College, the Latin American Writers Institute (LAWI) relaunches with a new brand logo. The Institute’s director, Professor Inmaculada Lara-Bonilla, made it a priority to engage Hostos students and colleagues in the process of relaunching its programs and publications for the new decade. Together with her colleagues in Digital Design, Lara-Bonilla created a unique opportunity for student participation in the transformation of the institute and for hands-on learning.
During the 2020 Spring semester, Professor Simona Prives' Communication Design class partook in the LAWI’s “Logo Contest.” After a class visit and presentation by the LAWI team, students created a new branding strategy for LAWI, including a new logo design and a fresh overall look and feel for LAWI’s interactive and printed materials. From concept to completion, the class worked both as a team and independently to produce several variations of their logo designs. Students started with research and sketches, and then moved on to multiple iterations based on the client’s, class’, and instructor’s feedback. Several excellent approaches to LAWI’s logo design resulted.
During the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, the students remained committed to this project. Their work culminated in a presentation, conducted remotely, by each of the students, who navigated the LAWI team through their designs and explained their visual decisions. Following this, Lara-Bonilla shared a selected group of logo candidates with a CUNY-wide group of advisors to LAWI. After much consideration, the logo of Felix Desiderio, a Digital Design major at Hostos, was selected.
Desiderio reflects, “This achievement means a lot to me because it’s one step closer to the world of designing. It’s the first time I worked with a team to create a great logo. I’ve never had an opportunity like this before and I am honored to be part of it."
Prives said, “it was a rich and rewarding collaboration for all.” For Lara-Bonilla, “supporting, recognizing and celebrating our own students’ talent and creativity is integral to the mission of the Latin American Writers Institute.”
During the summer Desiderio and Prives will continue their collaboration with Lara-Bonilla and LAWI to expand on the initial design, translating it into multiple variations and platforms.
To learn more about the LAWI and its initiatives read
here and follow them on their Facebook
page.
#