- Maker: Joanna Sutherland
- Genre: Design: Logos
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5800: Editing, Layout, and Design
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Winter 2026
Description
A logo design for the Collaborative Research on the Ecology and Evolution of Parasites laboratory, part of Nova Southeastern University. The lab requested a logo to represent their work, and for it to be easily translated into black and white, as well as being clearly visible on posters and t-shirts as desired.
Reflection
I used the design thinking process to help with drafting the initial prototypes by hand. Focusing on empathy was important, I wanted to try and think as if I was the lab, and to make sure their work wasn’t misrepresented. To that end, I chose a recognizable sea bird and water snail for my final design, as well as a creature that could be considered a parasite as it was in the shape of a worm. One of the challenges was that the lab advised us that the parasites had no uniformity of characteristics, therefore it wasn’t possible to choose one that represented all parasites in terms of features. I also wanted used the worm-like parasite on the word to indicate the verb creep, trying to avoid association with the noun.
The process differed from a typical writing assignment as it felt more challenging, creating for an expert audience in a field in which I have no prior knowledge. I wasn’t hugely satisfied with my original prototypes, except for the DNA style one, as I felt they lacked finesse and clarity. However, I am pleased with my final version as it makes effective use of white space to anchor the design, it represents the lab and the lifecycle they work with through the images of all four types of organisms, as well as including their full name for clarity of the acronym. The colors are simple and would easily transfer to grayscale.
