'Rebranding' project under way at SSCC
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
With the planned construction of two new campuses and a fall conversion from quarters to semesters, Southern State Community College is entering a new era of providing quality higher education, and is developing a new look to reflect all the coming changes.
SSCC Director of Public Relations Kris Cross said the college has been considering a “facelift” for its logo and color scheme for some time, but the coming changes in 2012 gave them an opportunity to move the rebranding project forward.
“The timing is right, because we have a lot of changes coming up,” Cross said. “With the semester conversion in the fall, we have to re-do all of our printed pieces, the catalogues, the brochures. We can piggyback the rebranding on the work we have to do already.”
While creating a look that would “show we are progressing rapidly,” Cross said, the college also wanted to make sure that the project would be economical, as well.
A committee of SSCC staff members was formed, and they looked into the development and feasibility of a rebrand. Cross said the initial project cost halted the development.
“We started talking to other institutions who had undergone a rebrand, and while they were very helpful and forthcoming with information, the costs were between $200,00 and $300,000,” Cross said. “At that point, it was completely off the table.”
Then, in 2011, Cross attended an Ohio Board of Regents-sponsored workshop by a Columbus company called Mindset Digital.
Cross said they advocated the use of crowdsourcing.
Crowdsourcing is an online “open call” for a group of people to perform a task or solve a problem.
“We learned that there are websites, like 99designs, where we could get a logo designed for $295,” Cross said. “99designs provides a hub, connecting businesses to graphics designers in the form of a competition for a monetary prize. For Southern State, it means we need a logo, and designers all over the world, and in our own backyard, can craft ideas for us. That put everything back on the table.”
From Feb. 27 through March 5, designers can submit their designs for the new SSCC logo, and the winner will get a prize of $2,012.
The red, white and blue theme colors of the college with also get an upgrade.
"We're considering a five-color palette for our overall look – which would represent our five counties – but probably want to stick with just two colors for the new logo design," Cross said.
Southern State currently has campuses in Brown, Clinton, Fayette and Highland counties, with new campus construction planned for Adams and Brown counties.
The plans for the rebranding developed over a year of “discovery and research,” which included “an extensive surveying of vested groups (such as) current students, alumni, faculty/staff, member of the local business community, secondary school counselors, principals, superintendents, and members of the SSCC Board of Trustees and SSCC Foundation Board.”
The result of the survey, by Hanover Research, were reported to the college in January.
Analysis of the survey results, Cross said, will be used as a guideline in the development phase of the rebranding.
SSCC says that the survey, “revealed we’re most widely recognized for being affordable, accessible and friendly. Many choose us because they want to stay close to home, but we also learned that students say they have
meaningful and engaging experiences here.”
Cross said one component of the survey was word association with SSCC. When we saw that people perceived us as friendly, that was a nice surprise,” Cross said.
“Southern State Community College’s logo development is the starting piece for the rebranding campaign supporting an aggressive vision to become a first-choice college,” the college said in its note to the potential
designers at 99designs.
“Our entire visual identity will undergo a complete makeover – marketing pieces, business collateral, facility signage and website.”
Cross said they hope to have a logo selected by the end of March, with an unveiling of the new look to follow shortly after. They will work through the summer to implement the new design in time for the fall semester.
For more information,visit www.sscc.edu/rebrand.[[In-content Ad]]
SSCC Director of Public Relations Kris Cross said the college has been considering a “facelift” for its logo and color scheme for some time, but the coming changes in 2012 gave them an opportunity to move the rebranding project forward.
“The timing is right, because we have a lot of changes coming up,” Cross said. “With the semester conversion in the fall, we have to re-do all of our printed pieces, the catalogues, the brochures. We can piggyback the rebranding on the work we have to do already.”
While creating a look that would “show we are progressing rapidly,” Cross said, the college also wanted to make sure that the project would be economical, as well.
A committee of SSCC staff members was formed, and they looked into the development and feasibility of a rebrand. Cross said the initial project cost halted the development.
“We started talking to other institutions who had undergone a rebrand, and while they were very helpful and forthcoming with information, the costs were between $200,00 and $300,000,” Cross said. “At that point, it was completely off the table.”
Then, in 2011, Cross attended an Ohio Board of Regents-sponsored workshop by a Columbus company called Mindset Digital.
Cross said they advocated the use of crowdsourcing.
Crowdsourcing is an online “open call” for a group of people to perform a task or solve a problem.
“We learned that there are websites, like 99designs, where we could get a logo designed for $295,” Cross said. “99designs provides a hub, connecting businesses to graphics designers in the form of a competition for a monetary prize. For Southern State, it means we need a logo, and designers all over the world, and in our own backyard, can craft ideas for us. That put everything back on the table.”
From Feb. 27 through March 5, designers can submit their designs for the new SSCC logo, and the winner will get a prize of $2,012.
The red, white and blue theme colors of the college with also get an upgrade.
"We're considering a five-color palette for our overall look – which would represent our five counties – but probably want to stick with just two colors for the new logo design," Cross said.
Southern State currently has campuses in Brown, Clinton, Fayette and Highland counties, with new campus construction planned for Adams and Brown counties.
The plans for the rebranding developed over a year of “discovery and research,” which included “an extensive surveying of vested groups (such as) current students, alumni, faculty/staff, member of the local business community, secondary school counselors, principals, superintendents, and members of the SSCC Board of Trustees and SSCC Foundation Board.”
The result of the survey, by Hanover Research, were reported to the college in January.
Analysis of the survey results, Cross said, will be used as a guideline in the development phase of the rebranding.
SSCC says that the survey, “revealed we’re most widely recognized for being affordable, accessible and friendly. Many choose us because they want to stay close to home, but we also learned that students say they have
meaningful and engaging experiences here.”
Cross said one component of the survey was word association with SSCC. When we saw that people perceived us as friendly, that was a nice surprise,” Cross said.
“Southern State Community College’s logo development is the starting piece for the rebranding campaign supporting an aggressive vision to become a first-choice college,” the college said in its note to the potential
designers at 99designs.
“Our entire visual identity will undergo a complete makeover – marketing pieces, business collateral, facility signage and website.”
Cross said they hope to have a logo selected by the end of March, with an unveiling of the new look to follow shortly after. They will work through the summer to implement the new design in time for the fall semester.
For more information,visit www.sscc.edu/rebrand.[[In-content Ad]]