Last semester, MUSIC Matters created an updated mission statement that we feel encompasses the true spirit of our organization and aligns more directly with our current community outreach values: “We aim to utilize the power of music to unite the Michigan community and promote educational accessibility.” Ayla Ahmed, Co-President of MUSIC Matters, explained that the need for the logo change came because “we have grown a lot from our foundation of putting on concerts into an organization with a much larger purpose— and our logo should reflect that.” With all of this in mind, our team set out to create a logo that we feel best represents our new mission statement and the organization we have become.
Our new logo features a pair of headphones that form a box around the words “MUSIC Matters.” The headphones come together on the left side to form the shape of a pencil, representing the education-centered social ventures aspect of our organization. This logo design was presented by Michelle Fan, one of our wonderful members. “I’ve never tried graphic design before,” Fan said, “but it’s something I’ve always been interested in.” While our previous logo was blue and green, we also decided to change our colors to blue and yellow, a combination that we feel best represents our club and ties us more closely to U of M and its values.
In order to create the logo, our graphic design team began by doing some research on the logos of other organizations, music companies, and community service groups. The team then held several design sessions where they brainstormed almost twenty logo ideas, and from there, they narrowed those choices down to three. Eventually, they decided on one logo that they felt best represented MUSIC Matters. The idea was then presented to our leadership team by Michael Barsky, our Creative Director. Using feedback from the leadership team, Michael, Michelle, and the entire graphic design team worked to finalize the logo that we now have. “The team did an incredible job moving from concept to deliverable,” Barsky said. “I am so proud of the way our team was able to unify our music production and social venture elements into a cohesive and artistic logo.” We are excited to move into this next year with our new logo, and are greatly appreciative to all within the MUSIC Matters family who contributed to the process and made this change possible!