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When Lorain City Schools decided to merge two high schools and form Lorain High, which will open this fall, one of Koury's initial tasks was developing a logo, nickname, and mascot for the new school. He started with two overriding ideas: to not use either of the old schools' logos and to get the students involved.

To shape the new identity, Koury took suggestions from any student in grades eight through 11 who submitted an idea. An eight-person panel made up of community members, teachers, and administrators narrowed that list down to three options by selecting those that were most widely suggested while making sure the nicknames and color combinations weren't copies of nearby schools. Next, a vote was held, with the winner--the Titans--announced at a school board meeting.

Koury then held a contest open to all Lorain City School students and alumni to design the logo and mascot. He spread the word about the contest through the school's Web site and local media, and received nearly 100 logo submissions, as well as a handful of mascot ideas. A panel similar to the one used to determine the nickname finalists chose the winners.

The panel considered some very specific factors when evaluating the logos. "When it comes to the logo, you need something crisp and clean that is easy to use in a lot of different applications, whether it be embroidery, signage, or anything else," Koury says. "You want something you can identify from a distance and something that has multiple elements in it that can be used in a lot of different ways. Our new logo is a shield with a block 'L' with a sword behind it. So we have three things we can work with in a lot of different ways."

It was also important to make sure the designs didn't infringe on any copyrights or trademarks. "We had to search online and do the best we could to make sure they were original," Koury says. "We found that the vast majority of mascot submissions were copies of other existing mascots."

But the most critical part in the process was making sure the students were involved. "One of the things you have to remind yourself over and over is this is a student-centered activity," Koury says. "This is important to the students first and foremost. There's always a push from the community and adults who want to get involved. But it should ultimately come back to the kids."

Read our feature length article on logos here...

Mike Phelps is an Assistant Editor atAthletic Management.