Snoqualmie Valley SD gets new image

Published 1:57 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – Brand names and logos can mean a lot to an organization.

Although some may lament the power a logo has in today’s hyper-capitalist environment, everyone knows, for better or for worse, the logos of their favorite institutions.

Snoqualmie Valley School District Superintendent Rich McCullough drew on this logic when he wanted the logo for his district redesigned. The district doesn’t sell anything, but something was needed to distinguish it from others in the myriad world of school districts.

McCullough contacted Jeff Christianson, the chief financial officer and co-owner of ArtSource in Bellevue. ArtSource has been helping corporations find their graphic image since its inception in 1994, and has helped such software giants as Microsoft and Encarta create the designs they wanted.

Christianson, who used to work for the Snoqualmie Valley School District as an accountant, was all too willing to take the job for the district he once worked for and sent his kids to.

“I loved working at the Valley,” Christianson said. “It’s a great place to send kids to school.”

Christianson contacted Garret Anthony, a freelance graphic artist in Seattle, to design the new logo. Anthony had experience giving companies a definitive logo; designing the plane logo for Expedia.com and all the logos for Mylackey.com are among some of his accomplishments. Anthony was given the original logo and was told to include a few of the things that make the Valley unique, such as Mount Si and Snoqualmie Falls. The district also wanted the logo in a dome shape with a moon overhead.

“I didn’t really deviate too much from the original,” Anthony said. “It’s one of the easiest ones I have done.”

The new logo will be featured on all school-district correspondence.

Other Garret Anthony works can be seen at www.divisiongroup.com.

You can reach Ben Cape at (425) 888-2311, or e-mail him at ben.cape@valleyrecord.com.