About Middlebury and MiddCORE
Ranked by US News and World Report as the 5th best liberal arts college in the United States for 2009, and noted by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top "feeder schools" to elite graduate business, medical, and law schools, Middlebury College boasts a wide range of innovative and competitive programs geared towards giving its exceptional students tools and opportunities to both do well and do good in the post-graduate world. Offered during Middlebury’s month-long Winter term, MiddCORE (Creativity, Opportunity, Risk, Entrepreneurship) is just such a program.

MiddCORE offers students who are curious about business, social organizations and entrepreneurship an opportunity to gain critical skills, experience and confidence through an attractive alternative to majoring in economics. Its curriculum is a blend of traditional classroom work (teaching, readings and assignments); personal interaction with highly-successful guest professionals; experiential and collaborative learning; group projects; public speaking; written communication; and organizational and leadership challenge experiences. During a month where most students work eight hours or less per week and are able to recover from the challenges of their Fall term, MiddCORE’s students are spending over 40 hours together each week, in class, at scheduled lunches and dinners, and racing against the clock to complete and win MiddCORE’s challenges and competitions.

Business Challenge
MiddCORE came to life as a pilot course in the Winter term of 2008. When the college decided to continue the program, MiddCORE’s faculty and students wanted to create a visual identity to promote the program and unify its students, faculty and alumni.

The identity needed to fit within Middlebury’s visual identity standards, yet provide a unique symbol that brought to life the program’s tagline, “Confidence for the road ahead,” while at the same time reflecting the CORE framework: Creativity, Opportunity, Risk, Entrepreneurship.

Hart-Boillot Strategy
Working with faculty, staff, students and consultants to MiddCORE, Hart-Boillot developed several concepts that could evolve into unifying symbols for the program. One concept was chosen, and many voices weighed in to refine it into its final form. The collaboration with a wide range of people, including students, faculty, staff and consultants, represented a somewhat unusual departure from the conventional design process, yet it lead to excellent suggestions and alternatives. As the concept evolved, the Hart-Boillot design team worked various participants, helping them understand how iterations of the design would work with different media to ensure the final design’s usefulness and longevity.

Results
The following logo and logotype will be used on letterhead, promotional materials, class materials, and a vast number of vehicles and media that MiddCORE students, alumni and instructors will bring to life in the coming years.

"Hart-Boillot’s diligence in moving us forward at every step of the process was little short of remarkable. Kevin Hart and his Creative Services design team took great care to understand our mission and even more importantly how to arrive at the best outcome for our current and future needs. Extraordinary creativity early on in the process was exceeded by the conscientious attention paid to keeping us focused and delivering a result that has thrilled our diverse constituencies." – Michael Claudon, PhD., Economics Professor, MiddCORE Founder and Director of Digital Bridges, Middlebury College