Southern State Community College

The design was part of a complete rebranding for Southern State, a community college.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use the shape of the state of Ohio. The name of the college is Southern State, but what state? With the use of an Ohio shaped mark, people would instantly know what state Southern State is in.

The shape had to be simple so that it could turn itself into something else visually, but still retain its dimensions and general symbolism. The viewer should be able to see Ohio (and what that represents) all of the time, but as they look at it – they can find more to it.

Instead of communicating “college,” I want to communicate a place, probably close to home. I want the mark to put students (and future students) at ease, making them feel like the college is just an extension of their familiar surroundings, thus making a sometimes stress-inducing environment as amicable as possible. This will allow the logomark to work on many levels at attracting new business.