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NSCS Stationery & Identity System
May, 2005
Client: The National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Prior to my arrival at The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, they had not been terribly concerned about the look and feel of their identifier. Across the board, there lacked a visual consistency that is essential in an identity system.
What was defined, was the logo. Originally developed in 1994, this logo has become the primary symbol of NSCS. Within each element is a meaning, directly inline with the Society’s mission. But the logo had one fundamental problem: it was not readable by itself.
My first puzzle to solve, was to combine the logo with a strong logotype. It needed to be an aesthetically pleasing mark—and versatile—one to which address and telephone information could easily be applied.
From there, I developed matching stationery pieces, basing each design of the last. In a few places, I decided to really pull the red from the logo into a solid area to give the stationery a nice contrast and to break away from the previously stale designs that had been used.
The Society had previously used a natural white stock, which we all agreed was the perfect shade to set the tone for the organization. We chose to move from a smooth opaque sheet into something a little more fancy, and ended up with a 25% cotton content paper for the letterhead and the envelopes. For the business cards, we wanted a memorable stock, and decided to use a very porous double-thick cover weight felt paper.
From time to time, the Society would mail information to prospective members, and so the need arose for several inserts to be developed. The Member Handbook was a good example, and came about in January of 2006. It was printed on a dull coated natural paper. This nice silky finish was the perfect place for a metallic gold, which was also used in creating the duotones for its pictures.