Students soar in SOS projects

“Have you heard about Save Our Seabirds?”

That’s one of the taglines Ringling College of Art & Design students developed for Save Our Seabirds as part of a project for their creative copywriting class last spring.

The class assisted the non-profit bird-rescue facility with a rebranding effort, including designing a new logo and signage.

When they began their projects, many of the students hadn’t heard about Save Our Seabirds.

“None of us really knew what Save Our Seabirds was,” said Meghan Kay-Yun Cole, a third-year advertising design student whose design was chosen for the logo. “More people should know about this place. The birds have really interesting stories.”

Save Our Seabirds unveiled its new logo and signage Friday, Oct. 11, at a celebration that many Ringling students attended. As he ripped the cover off the new sign at the front of the facility, Save Our Seabirds CEO David Pilston called it “SOS 2.0.”

The old logo featured five birds in an orange life ring and the letters “SOS.”

“We wanted something fresh and clean and new looking,” Pilston said. “The old logo was cluttered, and it was not really clear who we were.”

The new logo depicts the organization’s ultimate goal of releasing birds that can survive in the wild with the image of a single bird flying. It identifies the non-profit as “Save Our Seabirds Wild Bird Learning Center.”

The class came up with other taglines for promotional materials, including “Every bird has its story” and “Be our wingman” — to encourage support from the community.

For many students, the project was the first time they had worked with a client.

“In terms of branding tools, we took inspiration from the birds all around us,” Cole said.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected]