College Board Logo

I have a stack of college letters a good foot and a half high in my bedroom. So I see a lot of college-related advertising and graphic design, some of which is amazing and excellent, but some of which is not. And of the letters and other things that I don't think are well-designed, there seem to be two main pitfalls: 1) The design tries to be too professional and "boring" and does not appeal at all to young people, or 2) the design is too young and foolish looking and seems to overlook the fact that college is pretty serious business.

But there is one logo that avoids both of these pitfalls, and I wanted to highlight it today because I like it a lot. It's the College Board logo.

Now, I'm sure the graphic design of the College Board logo isn't perfect. There are things that seem a bit mediocre to me. But all in all, I think College Board has succeeded in their graphic design because of the balance they strike between professionalism and youthfulness. This logo demonstrates that. It looks pretty serious and professional on one hand, don't you think? The font is a strong, serif style that looks confident and certainly not childish. I'm not really sure what the acorn symbolizes, but it does seem to have a scholarly feeling to it. But at the same time, this logo uses turquoise, which seems to be quite a youthful color. That makes the logo seem fun and inviting without appearing foolish. The style of the acorn drawing has a slight doodle feeling to it as well, which makes it seem "younger." But at the same time, it is a clearly executed shape and doesn't look at all messy.

And it's not just the logo itself that has this wonderful balance. The way the whole identity system is applied seems to carry through the balance as well. Take a look at this logo specifically for the SAT. (Sorry it's so small - couldn't find a bigger one.)

It has a similar feeling, don't you think? The clear, confident font with a little bit of fun and youthfulness to it. I like how the design of the official SAT study guide mirrors this concept as well:

It looks official, like something that would have valuable and important information, but at the same time, the graphics look happy. The style of the cover is modern and fun, and looks like something a teen would go for. As a side note, I also like all the white text on the cover. :)

What do you all think of this logo and the rest of the graphics for College Board?