East County student wins school district logo contest

EAST COUNTY — Sophomore Abigail Vigna never thought the doodles she started etching in the margins of her notebook last year would translate into more than class-time entertainment.

But now, Vigna’s creation reaches more than her math notes.

The Manatee County School District has chosen Vigna’s design — a sun over the ocean, with a pencil to incorporate the importance of education —  for its new logo.

“I never thought I would be chosen,” Vigna said. “I thought this would just be another assignment.”

Vigna competed against 200 other hopefuls in the countywide contest.

In January, Stephen Valley, communications director for the school district, asked Vigna’s Digital Imaging teacher Greg Klein if his students would consider submitting designs for the district’s next logo.

When Klein announced that the assignment would not only receive a grade, but would also be submitted to the school district for consideration, he advised his 30 second-level graphics students to embrace the area in which they live.

It was important to Vigna to steer clear of the obvious choice for Manatee County — a manatee, she said, laughing.

She wanted to stand out, and she wanted to be accurate.

The colors she chose for the design — shades of blue, orange and yellow — came directly from the current school district’s website, she said.

She spent about an hour and a half on the assignment.

When Vigna learned her logo won the contest, she noticed the district had modified her design. It gave a different vibe than Vigna had hoped.

“There was a stroke around the sun, which made it look old,” Vigna said. “It pushed the drawing back five years. I had a simple design. Simplistic, flat designs are in right now.”

Vigna voiced her concern and collaborated with the district to develop the final design.

Vigna said now is considering attending art schol and may even apply to her “dream school,” the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), she said.

“This experience looks really good for school,” Vigna said. “I’m going to start looking for freelance jobs making logos and graphics for companies now. We’ll see.”

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].