Students Design Logos for Whole Foods Store

By Caitlin Terry '10, '12

When Whole Foods at Bishops Corner in West Hartford needed a new logo, the store reached out to students in the Hartford Art School.

Associate Professor John Nordyke's sophomore visual communication design class worked with the Whole Foods store on the logo project throughout the semester, and on Dec. 8, one of the student designs was chosen as the store's new logo.

Whole Foods Marketing Team Leader Erica Welch reached out to the Hartford Art School when she was asked to come up with a new logo for the store. “I did not have much experience with graphics, but I know there are talented students here who do, so I reached out to them to help us with the project,” Welch said.

Welch explained that Whole Foods' branding and advertising policies allow each store to come up with a logo that is unique to that store and its community. Nordyke’s students each came up with a design, and the designs were posted on the Whole Foods Bishops Corner Facebook page. Community members were then invited to vote on which design they liked best.

Out of eight possible logos, sophomore Saara Carissimi’s sunflower design was chosen as the winner. One hundred twenty people voted, and the winning design received 56 votes.

Carissimi said she chose to do a sunflower because of the simplicity of the design. She said that the assignment was challenging at first because she had the freedom to do whatever she wanted, and it was hard to narrow down her options.

Carissimi won a $100 gift card to Whole Foods, and her design will soon be featured at Whole Foods Bishops Corner.