Dist. 300 dad uses his family to inspire new logo design

When Lake in the Hills resident Peter Lilliebridge read about Community Unit District 300’s contest to find a new logo, the graphic designer took the suggestions in the contest rules literally.

A flier Lilliebridge’s 9-year-old daughter, Abigale, brought home from school in the spring caught her parents’ eye and captured their creative minds.

In March, Superintendent Michael Bregy invited the community to submit logo ideas to replace a logo the district had been using for about 20 years. Students, parents, teachers and other community members were also invited to vote for their favorite design.

The flier said the district was looking to re-brand its image with a new logo that represented the unit district from kindergarten to 12th-grade. The father of two figured the best way to symbolize the district as a whole was to show the age progression from the youngest student to a high school graduate.

Peter Lilliebridge, who has a background in graphic design, didn’t need to look too far for inspiration. His two nephews were visiting for a sleepover and Peter Lilliebridge had a vision of what the logo would look like. He lined up his own two children, his two nephews and his wife, Jennifer, in order of height. The models were instructed to look in the same direction. In the end, Peter Lilliebridge used his daughter, two nephews, Tyler and Justin Lilliebridge, and his wife — who also has a design background — for the final template.

“It represents the grades from kindergarten, elementary, middle school to 12th-grade,” Peter Lilliebridge said. “It’s like they are looking to the next grade level and graduation. They are all looking at the 300 that is overlooking all of the students.”

Peter Lilliebridge took the photo and painstakingly extracted each model individually to create the silhouette. He later added a diploma to his wife’s fist.

The district received over 60 submissions, which were narrowed down to 10 finalists. More than 6,000 votes were cast and the Lilliebridge design received the most votes.

“We are honored that we were chosen and we are honored to be part of District 300,” Peter Lilliebridge said.

The family was on hand to meet teachers and administrators during last week’s staff rally at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates.

“We have received a lot of positive feedback,” Jennifer Lilliebridge said. “We understand the last (logo) was around for about 20 years, so we’re hoping this one will have a long run.”