The Dalton School: Centennial
Design Studio: C&G Partners
The Dalton School is a progressive, private co-ed school in NYC founded by Helen Parkhurst in 1919. Dalton’s educational philosophy prioritizes student-centered learning and promotes exploration of interests. In 2019, we were commissioned to develop its Centennial brand, exhibition, and environmental graphics.
Identity, Exhibition, Environmental, Digital, and Wayfinding Design
Centennial Logo A
Centennial Logo B
The inspiration for the Centennial came from three main sources: the school’s original seal, its tradition of elementary students designing tiles for the school’s walls, and the use of blue as the school color.
Original Seal, Student’s Tile, and Color System
Little Dalton’s Blue Room
Following our brand logic, we crowd-sourced designs from Dalton students, faculty, and alumni for an additional tile featuring the 100th anniversary mark, which we incorporated into their logo. At Little Dalton, where the original ceramic tiles were made, we covered an entire waiting room with all the submissions, creating the Blue Room.
Crowd Sourced Paper Tile
Detail of Little Dalton Blue Room
The module idea didn’t just apply to Little Dalton’s Blue Room, but created a toolkit for other areas of the school. By using our simple circle, tile, blue idea we could apply that to our exhibition of 100 artifacts, 100 moments, and 100 alumni years.
Detail of Alumni Poster
Alumni Posters
We placed 100 posters representing each alumni year on the left stairwell of the 12-story school building. These posters feature the graduation year, centennial logo, school slogan “Go Forth Unafraid,” and alumni names displayed in randomly generated colors and shapes. When viewed together, these elements unify to create the overall design of the alumni year.
Timeline Poster
Timeline Posters
We installed 100 posters on the right stairwell, each one depicting a significant moment in Dalton’s history. To ensure continuity with the left stairwell while also providing variety, we employed a modular approach, utilizing color, shape, and a simple grid system to design a distinct poster for each event.
Wall Graphic
Wall Graphic
Not only focusing on the Centennial, the identity intends to have a lasting mark on their brand. An example of this is shown with their business office wall murals. We used chapters from The Dalton School Handbook as the form itself, while the effect abstracts the subjects so they can be applied more broadly. Our idea of modularity has established a relationship between micro and macro, allowing viewers to engage and learn about their history and heritage actively.