Following their whirlwind building renovation, Normal Park Museum Magnet school has adopted a new brand identity, including the above logo, as well as a new name for their athletic teams: Normal Park Lightning. The "progressive and energetic" scheme was developed over the course of several months as Armchair Media brand strategist and NPMM parent Kenny Ferguson interviewed parents, teachers, and community leaders to get to the bottom of what makes their school special.
Ferguson said of the new identity:
"...the visual identity had to convey Normal Park's personality — not just the current personality, but the developing characteristics that will result from the Upper School expansion. Additionally, we wanted to expand on the movement and energy that had been created with Lightning, and of course be unique and stand out in Chattanooga."
Normal Park students even got in on the act, in the form of a homework assignment to answer the question "Who is Norm L. Park?" 
This new brand identity is just further proof of the considerable momentum surrounding Normal Park, which has long been one of Chattanooga's premier public schools. Is this level of community involvement possible at our other schools? Is it even sustainable for Normal Park?
John Hawbaker
josiahq on July 25, 2008
sustainable? Wrong Q I think. The real question is how do we (personally) get to work dong the same in our own communities and neighborhoods? Great things are starting to happen at Calvin Donaldson in St. Elmo / Alton Park. It won't look exactly the same as NP I'm guessing, but each neighborhood is unique with needs specific to their community. NP is a great example of the power of the "grassroots" (and the bogeyman "elite" in Chattanooga who do so much good, DavidM, comment?).
David Morton on July 25, 2008
"DavidM, comment?"
I think the logo looks nice?
Kenny Ferguson on July 25, 2008
Hey guys, thanks for the post. I moved here from Atlanta three years ago, and have to say the community spirit in Chattanooga is nearly overwhelming. Sure, there's bitching here and there, and there should be. But unlike other places I've lived it mostly serves to underscore the love and care that people have for the city. Volunteerism is a part of the culture for many here, and it seems to be spreading. And that's really the root of how efforts like Normal Park can be successful. I bet the branding committee alone has put in around 300 hours so far, and it was a small project in the big scheme of things.
As for the brand identity, a couple clarifications. First of all, I'm not a designer, but more of a brand strategist. I guided the strategy effort that led to new or updated ID elements like NP's core values and traits, and mission and vision statements. From that foundation, we were able to find the mascot and design the visual ID system. The mark itself was actually designed by the creative team at my company, Armchair. The logo above is really the core element of a larger system. You can get more info and pics than you probably care about at this case study I put together for NP parents and staff.
Love what you're doing, Chattaratis. I'll be checking back if anyone has any questions or comments.
m.kelley on July 25, 2008
Good work Kenny, we really appreciate that you took time out of your day to comment.
John Hawbaker on July 26, 2008
@ Josiah: I think they're both fair questions, but you're right that the bigger question is how can we make things like this happen at our other schools. Hopefully the folks at Normal Park can be an inspiration to parents throughout the area.
@ Kenny: Thanks for stopping by. I edited the post to include your clarifications.
James on July 27, 2008
wow is that like Gill Sans Bold and two triangles, amazing design, really shows how the community came together and hired a designer to create stereotypical corporate identity! Wow "lightning" how would anyone ever think of a name like that, I really feel like it just says Chattanooga's finest athletes!
josiahq on July 27, 2008
lol, the typeface is Gotham. try watching/reading the preso.
James on July 28, 2008
Alright, you got me there I just took a quick guess. Still while I don't think the logo above looks bad its just seems oddly corporate for a school.
John Hawbaker on July 28, 2008
I think the crisp treatment is just as they hoped, "progressive." One of my favorite slides from the presentation showed the Normal Park logo set against the logos of other schools and universities. It clearly stood out from the crowd.
Stacie on June 25, 2009
I don't understand where the link is between being a museum magnet school and lightning as a logo. Not to mention that if this logo is supposed to be representing a school that claims to be a "museum" school, it seems that they would want it to be less generic looking logo and more like it was designed by someone who knows a little about art and design. It looks like clip art and it seems that the "forward thinking" community of Normal Park would be embarrassed to have such a simpleton representation of who they are trying to represent.