KELLLOGG – The Friends of the River Coalition (FORC) has been rebranded.
Early in the school year, FORC founder and president Dawn Wiksten and vice president Rob Archer approached Kellogg High School art teacher Rachel Krusemark about developing a new logo for the group.
Recently, students in Krusemark’s entry-level Art I class completed a project and submitted it to FORC to determine a winner.
“We knew we needed to brand ourselves,” says Wiksten. “But I never thought it would be this hard to pick a winner.”
Ultimately, FORC’s four board members failed to reach one or two of the top entries, choosing the top four instead.
The four students were honored at a short rally held in the KHS cafeteria on Friday afternoon.
Kaia Palmer and Russell Fields tied for third, Kaden Keller for second and Lena Arlenson for first.
Wiksten and Archer gave a presentation to the winners and explained why they would pick multiple winners instead of just one.
“The submissions were all great,” says Wiksten. “But we make t-shirts, hats, mugs, stickers, etc. and put our logo on it. ”
Once they decided they needed a new logo, the situation quickly turned to ‘how do I get one’ and a quick deliberation from the board of directors quickly led them to Krusemark.
“We thought this was a great resource that we could use,” says Archer. “It’s been quite a learning experience for us because when you’re trying to describe what you’re looking for in a brand or logo, you don’t notice all the little idiosyncrasies that go into that sort of thing. He did a really good job for me.”
Submission requirements encompassed not only the river itself, but also the inclusion of FORC vessels pulling tires and debris from the river.
Krusemark explained that the project took each artist a lot of time and required some revisions.
Other non-winning submissions (there were many) will also have a day in the sun. Wixten plans to print each of them on a square of fabric and incorporate them into a large quilt that will be auctioned during FORC’s annual fundraiser.
FORC is a small non-profit organization founded in 2020 for responsible growth management and infrastructure development along the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene.
The group has also commissioned a boat to remove large debris from the riverbed.
For more information, visit the Friends of the River 2020 Facebook page.
