The Fund Raiser

Designs on the Future

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By Mark J. Drozdowski

"So basically I'm looking for something that's distinct but not too different, similar but not the same."

Art stared back at me with an expression suggesting he thought I was either a certified genius or certifiably nuts, but either way, he wasn't following me. I was doing my best to describe what I wanted in a logo for our foundation here at the college. Evidently I wasn't doing it terribly well.

Here's what I had told him. One of my goals at Fitchburg State College is to raise the stature and visibility of our foundation, of which I'm the executive director. We need to help people understand what we do, which is to raise money and manage assets on behalf of the college.

People wishing to support Fitchburg must make checks payable to the foundation, not the college. Strictly speaking, if you give to the college, you give to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; that's not a bad thing, mind you, but it's not our mission or how we operate. Building awareness of the foundation will correspondingly generate awareness of philanthropy, and will educate donors about how we steward money, invest endowments, and support people and programs. With a campaign on our horizon, such an education is rather important.

Anyway, one of the (theoretically) easier ways to raise awareness is to create a visual identity package wrapped around a shiny new logo. Our current logo merely adds the word "foundation" to the college's name. I wanted something a bit more spectacular, so I brought in Art, a local graphic designer and commercial-jingle impresario, to help me turn my embryonic ideas into a masterpiece.

"Let me try again," I continued, trying to make sense in my own mind first. "People have to recognize the college when they see this logo, and know the foundation relates to the college. But they also have to see that it's not the college but something associated with it. So that's where I get the 'same but different' idea."

Blank stare.

I pressed on, telling Art about how we had tried this exercise at a state university where I worked years ago. Our institutionally related foundation was in desperate need of a new logo, especially after the university created a buzz with its own logo redesign. My colleagues and I fought the "how similar, how distinct?" battles, which raged on for 18 months.

"I'll do it in 10 hours," Art replied after my story. "Maybe eight."

"You have enough to go on?" I asked, impressed by his audacity though worried about his comprehension.

"I think so," Art said. "Let me run with a few ideas and see what turns up. Come to my studio in a week and we'll have a look."

"I'll do that," I said. "I hope I'm making some sense. I know what I want conceptually, but I can't envision the results. It's kind of like Potter Stewart's definition of pornography: 'I know it when I see it.'"

"Yeah, OK," Art replied, obviously unaware of who Potter Stewart, the Supreme Court justice, was or what my point might be. "See you in a week."

That week came and went, and I found myself at Art's studio. His "dungeon," as he called it, featured damp, stone-foundation walls, stained carpets, a few dusty keyboards, and a computer screen encircled by sticky notes. I felt a little uneasy, as scenes from Pulp Fiction and passages from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" entered unbidden into my head. Had I remembered to tell my secretary where I was going?

To my surprise, Art's work turned out to be better than what his austere trappings might imply. But it took us a while to get there. His first version of our logo sported fat, lowercase letters, a couple of swooping, swirly squiggles, and choppy lines that made the logo appear to be flying. I told him it reminded me of the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers' uniforms. I think he took that as a compliment.

"What we need," I reminded him, "is something that portrays stability and strength. We raise money and manage assets, duties that connote that we're serious people in a serious business. Folks need to be reassured of that, so our logo can't be playful."

"Right. Try this one."

He clicked to another screen and pulled up logo attempt number two. It wrapped the word "foundation" around the college's name, implying that we embrace the institution. I felt warm fuzzies. But while that one might look fine on letterhead, it wouldn't necessarily reproduce well on golf balls, shot glasses, baseball caps, and polo shirts. "Foundation" would become too small to emblazon or stitch or embroider. All you'd notice is the college's name. That, we already have. Next.

"We're getting closer," I conceded, "but I really want to see something showing, quite literally, that we support the college. Can we put the word "foundation" under the college's name?

"A foundation," I continued, looking around at his bare stone walls, "undergirds something. So it should appear in strong block letters, almost like pillars of strength."

"Pillars of strength," he mused. "Good segue. Get a load of this one."

"That's it!" I bellowed when logo number three appeared on the ancient Apple. Sure enough, "foundation" stood in solid lettering under the college's name, figuratively supporting it. What's more, he'd taken the highly stylized "F" we use in Fitchburg and reproduced it as the first letter of "foundation." Clever. There it was. Recognize that, Potter?

"I think you've nailed it," I told him. "Now all I have to do is convince everyone back home that we should adopt this. How long did it take you?"

"Six hours," he told me. "Maybe five."

"Stunning," I had to admit. "I'll let you know how this flies on the campus."

"Ever think of doing a jingle for the foundation?" he asked.

"I can't imagine a less likely option," I said. "I think we'll stick with the logo."

"I could bang something out real quick," he countered. "You know, like, 'We're not that funny but we raise lots of money....' Four hours. Maybe three."

"I'll keep it in mind," I said. "One battle at a time."