Merit Award
Salem State College
Location
Salem, Massachusetts
Client
Salem State College
Design Firm
Selbert Perkins Design Collaborative
Design Team
Clifford Selbert (Principal in Charge), Ben Dempster, Linda Kondo, David Lennon, Rob Merk
Fabricator
Design Communications
SPD created a communications master plan, and a bold new identity for Salem State College. The new identity incorporates contemporary imagery and was applied to a wide variety of merchandise, print and environmental communications. The comprehensive communications program unified editorial and visual messages to powerfully position Salem State among all of its constituencies.
Jury Comment
A brisk, lively solution to the problem of identity and wayfinding in a collegiate setting marked by an ad hoc architectural infrastructure, a diverse student body and a need to define itself within the existing urban fabric of Salem. Increasingly, signage has become a problem for colleges and universities. In the past, a homogeneous, dorm-bound population was expected to know the campus by word of mouth. This was a private, even privileged environment, turning its back on the public streetscape. Today, commuting, non-traditional students of many ages and backgrounds, and corporate alliances have made the ready identification of routes through campus imperative. This set of signs manages to be cheerful, distinctive, and legible as Salem State logos even when seen from the rear.