The Scarborough Charter
This is a logo design project hosted by the Board of the Scarborough Charter, University of Toronto Scarborough as well as OCAD University's Solid Black Collective Faculty mentors. The aim of this project was to develop a new visual identity that embodied both the Charter's commitment to ensure the promotion and celebration of Black Excellence and Flourishing in higher education spaces across Canada, as well as the acknowledgement of Black Canadian History.
The concept for the logo was inspired by the quilt patterns from the Underground Railroad, native and important crops that are part of the African and Afro-Caribbean communities, history of geometric patterns and use of colors from African design history as well as the Indigenous teachings of the 3-sister crops. The visual and final design of the logo was heavily inspired by the typeface Harriet. It is a re-imagined glyphs of the quilt patterns from the Underground Railroad designed by Vocal Type, which is a type foundry owned and led by Black designer Tré Seals.
The final designs are de-constructed glyphs from the Harriet glyph set that are re-constructed into new bold patterns that represented sweet potatoes, bananas/plantains and hibiscus. The new glyphs are made up of bits and pieces of the Harriet glyphs that represented hope, new beginnings and a promise. The re-construction represented the Charter's promise to support and celebrate communities of Black scholars, studies and community members across Canada.