Helmholtz Logo

Pro Bono

Helmholtz Logo

Logo development | Corporate Identity

We accompanied and supported a group of selected students of the Helmholtz Gymnasium Essen in their task as Co-Designers to develop a new school logo. Through input in the form of design-specific lectures and workshops, a multifaceted variety of different logo designs was generated, which were then collectively reviewed, iterated and refined. Together with the school administration and representatives of the college, we formed a design jury, which was faced with the difficult task of selecting the winning logo from all the logos submitted. To finalize the selected logo, we invited the creator of the winning logo, a 10th grade student, to our office to work with her on putting the finishing touches on the design.

Empowerment

As a basis for the joint, equal collaboration with the students, we conceived impulse lectures on basic, design-specific topics such as shapes & signs, semantics, brand values and corporate identity. With a common understanding of design and the requirements for logo development as a basis, we developed brand values that the new school logo should represent - community, cohesion, diversity, sports, MINT.
Working from home, the participants developed a variety of logo designs with varying degrees of focus. Creative and transformation techniques supported the students in developing independent concepts as well as in visualizing their ideas.

the final logo

The winning logo, designed by a 10th grade student, represents an abstracted shoe, which on the one hand depicts movement and dynamics, and on the other hand symbolizes the school's focus on sports. The topics of diversity, community and cohesion are made clear both by the alignment of the lines of the heavily stylized shoe in a common direction and by the transformation of three independent lines into a single figure. Sharply drawn lines with a technical feel symbolize the science focus of MINT.
The logo design particularly impressed the jury with its abstract character, which creates a balanced weighting of the different levels of meaning that the logo unites. At the same time, the conciseness of the logo, due to its reduced design, was highly appealing.

Outlook

In numerous use cases, the new school logo is presented on a wide variety of media. This outlook represents a first approach for a holistic design of the school's corporate design.