COMBINING THE PAST AND PRESENT: Creative communications company Verge180 receives award for designing official logos commemmorating The College of New Jersey’s 150th anniversary.

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PRINCETON, NJ, March 23, 2006 – Successfully weaving images of an academic institution’s rich history into a contemporary design scheme, Verge180 received a GOLD award for “Visual Design in Print: Logos/Nameplates” from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Presented last month at a CASE-sponsored conference, The College of New Jersey’s “Once We Were Normal” logo series was specially designed to commemorate the college’s Sesquicentennial Celebration – (1855-2005).

The logo theme revolved around the original name of the college – The New Jersey State Normal School. The college was established by the state legislature as the first “Normal,” or, teacher training school, and was the first publicly funded higher education institution in the state of New Jersey.

The two logos feature black and white photos from the College of New Jersey’s extensive photo archive accented with bright colors stating the “Once We Were Normal” Sesquicentennial theme. A series of sweatshirts and t-shirts bearing the logos were also produced for the celebration. 

“One of the challenges we faced was to announce the event through a unique and memorable graphic that would appeal to current students, faculty and alumni. The interesting part was trying to incorporate the original name of the college, Normal, and trying to convey the juxtaposition of the unusual college name against the odd images in the extensive photo archive,” said Alan Brooks, President and Chief Creative Officer of Verge180. “This assignment and the design department provided me with an enormous amount of creative latitude.

CASE, the professional organization for advancement professionals who work in alumni relations, communications and development, annually awards members’ achievements in the areas of print, multimedia, marketing/communications, events and program development.

Brooks has taught a corporate identity course at the College of New Jersey since 2003. The logo series was the first project he has produced for the office of college and community relations.