What’s in a Logo
Skye opened in 1988. If we all can remember (or imagine if you’re not at long-in-the-tooth as some…) there wasn’t much in the way of graphic design and the internet really hadn’t taken off just yet. We did have a wonderful thing called clipart- nowhere near as endless as we know clipart today- but back then we thought it was pretty good.
And so this is where our original logo developed and was purchased- yes, we bought it, however not the rights to it so you can still purchase the OG logo -by simply google search and a fee
Reworking our logo.
A logo’s purpose is to visually communicate the unique identity of the brand and what it represents, we felt that our logo no longer was true vision or representation of who we were- we were not a ‘cookie-cutter’ type service. We were unique, we were innovative- something that couldn’t be found via a google. And now, we had so many more options than we did in the late 80s.
As a beautiful learning community made of families who identify very differently- cultures, genders and abilities we wanted our logo to be as unique as we were.
We began to consider how we wanted to be presented, posing the question ‘who are we?’
Let the unpacking begin!
We first turned to our philosophy, our purpose stated: “to create environment that is inclusive…connect with each child’s curiosity, reflect their interests, their culture and their voice, in respecting each child’s decisions…”.
To truly reflect our child-centred foundation and connect to children’s voices and respect their decisions we felt it was imperative that our new logo needed to authentically represent what Skye is to them- their place.
During an afternoon program, I invited myself to join a group of children and asked them what they thought Skye was, what was good about it and how they belonged here. Here are some of the responses I received:
"Like a drawing, but it's not just about the drawing, it's the colours. Because it’s the colours of the world, and I like the world"
"Everything! Food, rest and play!”
"I have been here for like 100 years"
"I have been here for a long time and I’m a now a school kid in two, actually three days”
Throughout this unpacking we also reflected on our history. We agreed that although our logo was certainty outdated and yes, a bit daggy in now, it was important not to forget where we came from and respect this logo as our ‘face’ for the past 33 years.
What elements from our original logo could still identify with?
“Playful environment built on respectful relationships” (Skye Philosophy 2021) The original logo portrays interdependence, community and friendship by the imagery of a group of children together. This had survived the test of time. This is what we wanted to keep.
Another late afternoon, I spoke to a group of 3 and 4 year old children about what I had been working on and asked if they would be able to contribute with the design.
A logo for the Skye children, by the Skye children.
Off to work they went! The artists Nahla, Sebastian, Freja and Layla (two from our 3-year-old kinder and two from our four year old) had chosen to draw self-portraits.
The image shows different children- difference sizes, different hair and ungendered. “diversity is celebrated” (Skye Philosophy 2021).
Of course, aesthetics played a part too- size of the image and we wanted viewer an easily identify they are drawings of people.
We spoke to the children about the idea of combining of their portraits to create a new logo. They were all in!
When asking the children to reflect on Skye and the new logo combining their pictures, this are some of the answers we received:
When reflecting on the logo:
“They are all friends playing together"
"There are 1, 2, 3, 4 children, they are holding hands so they don’t get lost”
There are white ones and aboriginal ones.”
"They are from here [Skye] and they are smiling for the camera. “
They are children, holding hands to bush kinder so they stick together"
"They live at home, they belong at Skye too"
Later down the track, we had a graphic designer creatively clean up the smudges, cut-out shadows and give our colour and a leaf to represent connection to country and nature pedagogy. All in all we are very pleased that our new logo is truly all of us… for now!
