By Glorianna Nichols.
AISD graphic design students began competing with Wylie in NextU’s rebrand competition on Oct. 4.
Funded by the Development Corporation of Abilene, or DCOA, NextU is a career development program that encourages high school, GED and post-secondary students to successfully transition into a career in the local workforce. Students will build a brand book and a new logo to represent NextU.
“NextU has gone through several changes over the past five years with partnerships, staff and even what we do and how we do it,” AISD Next University career coach, Elisha Seca, said. “As we’re rethinking and looking forward, we’re changing as a program, so we wanted to change our look as well.”
NextU provides students with mentorships, scholarship opportunities, internships and community connections. Rather than reaching out to established designers, DCOA and NextU staff are offering high school graphic design students from Abilene and Wylie the opportunity to completely rebrand NextU.
“We figured that if this career program is for students, let’s have the rebrand done by students,” Seca said. “Some of the staff joked that we’re just a bunch of old people who don’t know what students like, what attracts them and what is visually appealing for them to want to sign up for the program. So, we decided to have them do it.”
A physical copy of the full guidelines for the rebrand were given to graphic design students. Participants have the option to work in a group of up to three people, individually or both to “double their chances.” The winning submission, which is set to be announced on Nov. 29, will earn a 2022 Macbook Pro, have their designs officially represent the NextU brand and have their photographs included in promotional material. The top three finalists for each district will be selected on Nov. 18 to present their designs in front of a panel of judges on Nov. 28. Seca believes that another benefit for students is receiving “a great addition to a professional portfolio” if they win.
“DCOA is a legit economic development corporation because they have their hand in the industries of Abilene in a lot of ways,” Seca said. “I mean, this brand will be everywhere. It’s going to be in multiple industries for business and education. This is great exposure for students because if a student or group of students have their name on a project, it gives them a leg up in the graphic design world because any business will see them as a potential marketer or graphic designer for them.”
DCOA reserves the rights to alter winning submission content and to not select a winner if no suitable submissions are received. However, to ensure this doesn’t happen, Seca wants students to “take some creative risks” and not just follow the stated requirements.
“We really want to see the skills that students have been developing in these classes and put them into real world use,” Secas said. “There’s not a lot of restrictions in what it can look like because students know what’s up as far as what attractive looking brands look like now. We want to be able to see the state of where things are at, which is what students are learning in graphic design class.”
Seca is “pretty sure that AISD is going to beat Wylie” because of the recent addition of the LIFT, the district’s Career Technical Education center, opening up. Additionally, he believes that the instructors there, like graphic design and animation teacher Broc Baird, have given students the skills to produce high quality work.
“This is a phenomenal opportunity for graphic design students because it allows them a chance to play in the real world of design and clients,” Baird said. “Students can experience what it would actually mean to have a client wanting you to design their brand identity. Students have personal gain, professional gain and material gain all happening at the same time with this competition.”
Baird states that logo rebrands are important because logos are “the signature” for companies.
“When we sign off on something, we’re giving its approval,” Baird said. “So when a company has a logo, it’s basically them signing off and saying that this is their product and we can trust them. If we don’t have a visual identity for a company, then we don’t really have anything to trust.”
Senior Glorianna Nichols shuttles to the LIFT to attend Baird’s Graphic Design II class and is participating in the NextU rebrand competition.
“Honestly, I wanted to do this competition because I thought it would be really fun to do,” Nichols said. “I always enjoyed doing branding and logo design assignments in class, so when I learned about this competition, I knew that it was right up my alley.”
Nichols “just wants to have fun” while designing and advises other students doing the competition to do the same.
“I know that there can be a lot of pressure because this is a competition against another district and the prize is a Macbook,” Nichols said. “But, I think that just having this opportunity is already a win for us designers.”
Seca also wants graphic design students to know that “the designs that don’t look like they match with anything else” are the ones that are usually the most successful.
“Don’t be afraid to completely change what our brand currently looks like,” Seca said. “Students are free to use what’s currently established as a base, but if you do something completely off the cuff and you think that it’ll be a hit, then take a risk. Even if your design isn’t completely chosen, an element of it might be. You’re a creative, a designer and an artist.”
