Announcing the New Linden Logo!


Posted by Admin on November 12, 2017 at 10:14 PM

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By Farida Sheralam, Logo Designer and Director, Marketing & Communications

“The new logo embodies all that is Linden. We are thrilled that in 25 years, our Linden leaves have matured into a living tree that depicts dynamic leadership in girls’ education, reaching new heights as it embraces our connectedness and our engagement in a changing world.” — Diane Goudie and Eleanor Moore, Linden Co-Founders

We are so excited to launch Linden's new logo just in time to commemorate our 25th anniversary in the coming year. The new logo is meant to better reflect the essence of who we are today, and where we are headed as Toronto’s foremost feminist school.

Our new logo marks a significant departure from the original logo. The leaves have matured into a strong tree, and the veins have become intersecting swirls, reflecting our diverse community and robust interdisciplinary program. To celebrate Linden’s 25th anniversary, we have incorporated “25” within the logo to create a seamless, more cohesive design. The official anniversary years “1993–2018” have been deliberately omitted to give the logo a longer shelf-life that spans the entire duration of 2018-2019, after which "25" will be dropped from the logo. (Scroll down to see the post-anniversary version.)

The Evolution of the Logo

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Although Linden's logo has evolved through subtle revisions, we have mostly adhered to the original vision during the past 25 years.

The Design Process

Logo_sketch.jpgAn initiative of The Linden School's Advancement Committee, the logo redesign project has been a few months in the making. Our consultations included reaching out to Linden Co-Founders Diane Goudie and Eleanor Moore, who emphasized the importance of highlighting one of the school's core values: "we are all different." Thanks to these discussions, I came away with the consensus that after 25 years, Linden's brand would be better reflected by modernizing the logo while paying homage to the original one through the continued use of the Linden leaf which is so integral to our core identity and a key brand differentiator.

My initial concepts included sketching an actual Linden leaf and exploring different options until I landed upon the winning tree design during the third round of revisions. Decision-making was surprisingly quick and the final design was unanimously approved by the Advancement Committee and the Board of Trustees. 

Typeface and Secondary Colours

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After extensive debate on the merits of serif vs. sans-serif typefaces, we settled on two complementary typefaces that integrate well with the overall design. Though purple continues to be the foundation of our primary colour palette, a vibrant secondary palette lends more versatility to our communications material. Colourful versions of our logo (top left) will be used for certain promotional materials, especially for our elementary school. Strategic use of yellow (top right) allows the Linden purple to be more prominent and distinct and it helps our identity look less institutional. Our new brand identity is colourful: a true reflection of our warmth, diversity, and enriched program.  

New Communications Materials & Swag

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We debuted our new logo at a recently-held school fair in downtown Toronto. In the coming weeks, we will be rolling out fresh branding for key marketing and communications materials. My goal is to have most of the new branding in place by the new year. 

Our three-year-old website is also undergoing a facelift to showcase the new logo, and should be ready soon.

Our Advancement Committee is also working on exciting new Linden wear options that incorporate the new logo. We hope to have these available for you before the winter holidays. Please stay tuned for more information on how to order these materials. 

I hope you like our new branding as much as we do. Feel free to send me an email letting me know what you think!

My thanks to Principal Janice Gladstone, the Linden Board of Trustees, and the Advancement Committee for encouraging me and being so receptive to my ideas! This is an exciting time to be a part of Linden and work with our new leadership team to strengthen the school, celebrate its successes, and plan for its future. 

Farida Sheralam
Director, Marketing & Communications