FARMVILLE – For 35 years, the Southside SPCA has been finding homes and caring for the homeless dogs and cats of Southside Virginia, but until recently they didn't have a logo. The students in Longwood University's Design Lab were put to work to solve this problem, and now the Southside SPCA has a unique and professional logo.

“The Southside SPCA has had many exciting changes over the last few years – new buildings, new staff, increased adoptions, and now a wonderful new logo,” said Helen Warriner-Burke, SPCA board member and former rector of Longwood's Board of Visitors.

“We had a strategic planning meeting this summer and identified the need for a logo that will help us grow to the next level,” added board member Mark Fink, a biology professor at Longwood University.

Longwood art professor Christopher Register, who has provided graphic design work for the SPCA for several years, suggested that the students involved in Longwood's new Design Lab take on the assignment. “The Design Lab is a student-run design agency that provides students with experience in working on design projects for clients. The work is done pro bono, and since the SPCA strives to stretch every donated dollar, it was a good match,” he said.

The Design Lab students who developed the logo, Erica May and Kyle Fowlkes, started by researching other logos of animal shelters, and exploring the unique aspects of the Southside SPCA which is a no-kill shelter serving 12 counties in Southside Virginia. The student designers, both graphic art majors, presented four different designs to the SPCA board, which chose a design that plays off of the “S” in “South” and “Side.”

“Creating the logo for the SSPCA feels great. I love helping the shelter grow and doing something for a cause I care so much about,” said May after the presentation. Fowlkes added, “I signed up for Design Lab to gain real world experience with actual clients and it has been great. I really enjoyed the experience of pitching our ideas to the SPCA board.”

Southside SPCA board president Dave Evans commented, “I like how the new logo looks professional and very sharp. We are thankful for the excellent logo created by the Design Lab students for the Southside SPCA.”

Longwood's Design Lab is less than a year old but has already designed posters, logos and web sites for the Town of Farmville's Tree Board, the Moton Museum, Longwood's Simkins Lecture Series, a statewide environmental group and other nonprofit organizations.

Wade Lough, assistant professor of graphic design, who coordinates Design Lab along with Register, commented on the early success of this innovative program for undergraduates, “The students learn a great deal about design as well as about meeting tight deadlines and how to work with clients. It's a collaborative process that benefits the students, the Longwood Art Department as well as great nonprofit groups like the Southside SPCA.”