Something Fishy’s Going On

Last week, the newly formed volunteer organization desigNYC — a “group of designers and design advocates with the mission of helping nonprofit and community groups in need of design services connect with professional, pro bono design resources” — had an opening reception for an exhibit that showcases the progress of its first twelve pilot projects, which range from scopes like a master plan for a 100-block ecological corridor to a children’s play room for domestic violence survivors. Among them was also redesigning the identity for the Bronx River Alliance , a nonprofit organization that works to “improve and restore the Bronx River corridor so that it can be a healthy ecological, recreational, educational and economic resource for the communities through which the river flows.” In charge of this project were Felix Sockwell and Tom Vasquez , who worked with Steven Heller , a desigNYC Team Advisor. By not trying to reinvent the wheel and generate a new concept for the Bronx River Alliance, Felix and Tom were able to focus on vastly improving the leaf-and-fish icon to something less generic and better integrated

Last week, the newly formed volunteer organization desigNYC — a “group of designers and design advocates with the mission of helping nonprofit and community groups in need of design services connect with professional, pro bono design resources” — had an opening reception for an exhibit that showcases the progress of its first twelve pilot projects, which range from scopes like a master plan for a 100-block ecological corridor to a children’s play room for domestic violence survivors. Among them was also redesigning the identity for the Bronx River Alliance, a nonprofit organization that works to “improve and restore the Bronx River corridor so that it can be a healthy ecological, recreational, educational and economic resource for the communities through which the river flows.” In charge of this project were Felix Sockwell and Tom Vasquez, who worked with Steven Heller, a desigNYC Team Advisor.

By not trying to reinvent the wheel and generate a new concept for the Bronx River Alliance, Felix and Tom were able to focus on vastly improving the leaf-and-fish icon to something less generic and better integrated. In the first round of design, the designers arrived at a solution that took the leaf’s ying and matched it nicely to the fish’s yang. Unfortunately, the fish’s yang was considered to look too much like a carp or catfish, species that can sometimes be problematic. Back at the drawing board, the designers settled on the Alewife Herring, which also happens to be a success story for the Alliance, as it’s a species they reintroduced to the river.

With the fish in place, a custom script wordmark was created, giving the final logo a nice, natural flowing look that pairs very well with the boldness of the icon. The result is a vast improvement over the previous mark and the new logo manages to handles the illustration extremely well without spiraling into a cartoonish look. Tom and Felix also designed a logo for the Bronx River Flotilla, an annual Spring event to celebrate the river. And they are working on signage and guidelines for the Alliance. Below is the same story I just told you, in images.

Bronx River Alliance