Before
After
The association did not have much of a budget to work with, but as an alumnus of White Bear Lake High School, I wanted to give back to the community she grew up in. The old logo was very low res, the acronym WBLTA (White Bear Lake Teachers Association) was not very clear to outsiders, and the bear looked quite sad. Since the union wanted to rename themselves to be more inclusive of all educators in their community anyways, they needed a new mark to represent themselves proudly within their local community.
Stationery
In the new (and improved!) White Bear Lake Area Educators (WBLAE) logo, a calm, confident, proud bear represents how the White Bear Lake Area Educators are watching over their community. The bear is looking up into the stars as if thinking about the future of education for the district.
Each star represents the three main stages of education for students: Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary.
The serif typeface speaks to a more traditional-feel for the logo. Most textbooks, papers, etc. are printed in a serif font because it is generally easier on the eyes at a smaller size for large amounts of text. Therefore, it reminds people of education and years of studying textbooks.
Process Sketching
Style Guide
As you can see in the style guide, there are two different color palettes for the association to use in different situations. One is a dark blue to represent the stability and professionalism of the union. The orange, black and white is for use in school-related applications since those are the colors used for the white bear lake area school district and mascot (go bears!).
