Grad designs new logo for local credit union

EOU graduate Amy Betts designs new look for local credit union

News contact: Laura Hancock | University Advancement
541-962-3585 | lhancock@eou.edu

December 8, 2014

Story by Yurika Masuda | Senior Communications Student

LA GRANDE, Ore. (EOU)  – A new logo for the Union Wallowa Baker Federal Credit Union is up on Depot Street. Amy Betts, a 2014 graduate of Eastern Oregon University, is the creator of the design.

Betts completed her degree in media arts with a digital design concentration, and minored in art and business. She completed the rebranding as her senior capstone at the university and her collaborative journey first began last winter with the credit union seeking a modern-looking logo to help them attract more young people as clients.

“We were delighted to get Amy’s design input,” said Travis Fager, a chair of the board of directors for the credit union.

Betts started with clarifying the clients’ needs in order to meet their expectations. She communicated with the credit union through e-mails, once-a-month visits and a few other necessary meetings.

“Learning how to use my expertise to help the clients definitely nurtured my professionalism, which is important for successful art and business,” Betts said.

The project took step-by-step progress. Betts first got the concept off the ground. After guiding the board members to a basic logo representation, she assisted their transition to a complete graphic redesign launch.

“The new logo is a great contemporary update for the credit union, and it’s the result of lots of collaboration between Amy, the corporation, its employees and board members,” said Michael Sell, associate professor of art at EOU.

Throughout the process, Betts met with people of varied opinions, ages and personalities. The credit union also required her to follow some specific business rules and she conferred with Sell about font and color choices, layout and branding implications.

As a guide, Sell emphasized art and design as the mediums that contribute directly to a business’ image and branding identity.

“I have had students create publicity materials for hotels, business materials for construction companies, and create apps for an educational setting, but Amy is the first student whose work has appeared on such a large scale in a local setting,” he said.

After months of resizing, redesigning and recoloring, the credit union and its board members reached a final decision.

“Amy’s work and assistance was the catalyst to getting a decades old logo scheme overhauled,” Fager said. “Thanks to Amy and thanks to Eastern for great business outreach in the community.”

Betts continues to bring new trends to the community and she currently works for Barreto Manufacturing, which designs, builds and sells agricultural machines, such as tillers and trenchers.

As a designer and a marketer, she creates advertisements, logos and photographs the machines to introduce them to consumers.