Representing
our School …and clearing up our identity confusion. The way a school represents itself changes over the years and Williston Northampton is no exception. —Traci Wolfe P’16
W
hen a marketing team first created the most recent Williston Northampton School seal in the 1980s, the wavy, blurry lines seemed fresh and modern. There had been no visual identity for a decade, so the seal, meant to look like a woodcut, filled in the gap. That seal was just one in a long series of changes Williston Northampton has experienced over the years. Blue and gold school colors had become blue and green. The Blue Devils had become the Wildcats. The alma mater, originally set to a Joseph Haydn piece that later became Nazi Germany’s national anthem, was rewritten and rescored. The way any school represents itself changes over the years; Williston Northampton is no exception. As an institution grows and changes, so must the symbols used to represent it. But, while the school’s colors changed in 1972, and a new alma mater debuted in 2007, few updates were made to the school’s visual identity after 1988.
Last year, in a review of the Williston Northampton School’s visual identity, it became clear that a wide range of designs had sprung up since the 1980s, and it was time to strategically unify the image to best represent the school across all channels and to all audiences. Athletes had travel suits, but were taking to the field in uniforms that differed widely from one sport to the next. Fans donned a rainbow of designs to show their support. Since there was no single official image for the wildcat—and never had been—people borrowed liberally from the Internet, copying the mascots of colleges and universities to make their own gear. On signage and stationery, the school’s image was varied, ranging in size, font, and color. For a 2010 viewbook, for example, an entirely new logo appeared. In short, there was no consistency. In 1988, when the school paired the academic seal with the words “The Williston Northampton School,” the woodcut image worked well. This was pre-Internet, so there was no need for digital files or RBG colors, and very little use for an image that could appear in an enormous range of sizes. With those new requirements in mind, Williston Northampton recently started working to standardize designs on campus and online. A wide range of people from the greater Williston Northampton community—alumni, students, faculty, and Board members—contributed to this project. There had long been a call for a shield, which is another traditional shape that schools
use to represent themselves visually. A Bostonbased design firm helped develop a new shield to complement the seal. During the course of the design process, what slowly emerged was a W with a gap—allowing the N, for Northampton School for Girls, to be visible. This represents the rich history of the school in a present-day school shield. The N helped to balance the fact that people often refer to the school as “Williston.” The shield is not meant to replace the seal, however. It will be used with the school name online and in print. The seal will continue to be used on official school documents such as diplomas, contracts, and invitations to such formal events as Convocation, Cum Laude, and Commencement. The lines on the seal were simply strengthened and simplified so that the design would be clear when used in print and online. In addition to the shield, the school is working to standardize its athletic uniforms over the coming few years. They will remain in an athletic font, with the new W/N combination. The school is also working to create a Williston Northampton wildcat. Since the mascot was first instituted by student vote in 1939, it seems appropriate that students and the wider community now help determine how the wildcat will look. To that end, we hope you will also add your voice. Write to us, or join us online and help make Williston Northampton’s identity as strong as the community it represents. spring 2013 Bulletin 19