Little City refreshes its logo

Submitted by Lisa Hoffmann, Little City

With a goal of preserving key elements of a strong and well-recognized brand and logo, Little City Foundation “refreshed” its look after retiring its Golden Anniversary logo.

“With our new logo, emphasis was placed on the ‘individual’ outside of the house to help communicate our core values and corporate culture,” said Executive Director Shawn E. Jeffers. “In addition to residential options, we provide therapeutic, person-centered planning in all aspects of life, and it was important to us to express that.

“We also wanted to incorporate characteristics of our desired public image: fresh, current, cutting-edge, forward-thinking, friendly, open and promoting independence,” Jeffers added.

“The softer and less rigid edges of the house signify a friendlier environment vs. a structure that seemed more solid and institutionalized,” said Director of Communications and Marketing Lisa Hoffmann. “The new house communicates that the residential options at Little City are not the focus of programming, but simply support the individual with a gamut of other leading-edge supports.”

The most obvious update to the logo would be the use of one child and one adult vs. a single stick figure. When opening its doors in 1959, the majority of children at the nonprofit organization had Down syndrome and other developmental delays.

Today, with the rising prevalence of autism, 80 percent of children at Little City are on the spectrum.

The use of blue (a color often used with autism illustrations because of its soothing influence) for the child was intended to illustrate the autism link at Little City. Green was used for the adult to preserve a key color that constituents associated with Little City for decades.

Little City also changed the shape of the original stick figure. With a stance much further apart and arms higher in the air, the shape of the individual depicts greater empowerment, independence, stability and joy — feelings and characteristics Little City strives to obtain for the hundreds of children and adults it serves.

“We also used a serif, lowercase font, which is interpreted as more welcoming, relatable, warm, comforting and engaging, while maintaining a professional look,” added Director of Strategic Market Engagement Dana Rice. “The previous font was clearly dated, whereas this font is more timeless and promotes the greatest readability.”

To learn more about Little City’s latest accomplishments, view the FY2011 Annual Report at littlecity.org/newsroom/annualreport.aspx.

To support individuals with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, visit littlecity.org/support.

For details, visit littlecity.org or contact Lisa Hoffmann at lhoffmann@littlecity.org or (847) 221-7825.

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