Elgin Observer's Instagram page with the new logo.
Promotional flyer for the newspaper's podcast made by Shayndel Valles.
In March 2023, I attended the National College Media Convention in San Francisco, CA with the Elgin Observer. Our then-website scored eighth place in the two-year college category and I became motivated to rebrand and create a new visual identity for the newspaper.
Inspired by blackletter and a historical eye motif, I illustrated our new logo and it was implemented in August 2023.
In October 2023, the Elgin Observer was awarded the first place Pacemaker award for its website design at the National College Media Convention held in Atlanta, GA.
Shayndel Valles, the group’s digital editor, got inspired to rebrand The Observer’s website back in March of 2023. The Observer won eighth place at the ACP’s Spring College Media Conference for their platform, and Valles was determined to redesign the web page to see a difference in their scoring.
“I remember turning to the team and saying that we would win first place for our website after our redesign,” Valles said. “I spent several weeks over the summer drafting the new logo and desktop website layout. I’m very grateful to have won this award and honored to work with such amazing people."
