To create FIT’s 75th anniversary logo, Communication Design Pathways faculty members C.J. Yeh and Christie Shin employed an educational framework they call guided experiential learning. They selected two students from more than 30 applicants to form a mini design agency. The students, Hira Ali and Tyisha Kellman, both Advertising and Digital Design ’20, got real-world experience under close faculty supervision.
The team started by researching existing anniversary identity systems in both higher education (Parsons, Pratt) and the corporate sector (M&Ms, Slack). They came up with a range of concepts, hammering out more than 100 sketches, and winnowed them to a final three. The team presented the three contenders to the college’s Office of Communications and External Relations. The choice was “Timeless FIT,” which focuses on design fundamentals like balance, rhythm, and simplicity.
Watch the 75th anniversary design in action:
The identity system consists of eight parallel lines, one for each FIT decade. The lines curve and fold, creating basic shapes that echo the fundamentals of design. They integrate the FIT button into the 75th anniversary logo. The result is simple, elegant, and truly timeless.
Using Adobe After Effects, the students applied the identity system to motion graphics that demonstrated its power and flexibility—and juxtaposed shapes with brand language, the “un” words that reference Unconventional Minds.
The students learned a lot about brand identity. Kellman says the biggest challenge was “sticking to the brief—focusing our ideas on what the school needs and wants.”
“We weren’t working on it as students and professors,” Ali says. “It was mentorship.”
For more details on FIT’s 75th anniversary, visit 75.fitnyc.edu.
