College try: Students design beach bar brand

SARASOTA — Six students at Ringling College of Art and Design won a competition to design the best brand concepts for a new beach bar and restaurant in the Virgin Islands.

The contest, a 48-hour competition held at the Sarasota-based college, was more than academic. Sanctuary Holdings, the firm behind the bar and restaurant project on St. Thomas, commissioned the students for real ideas it could put to use, according to a release. Students were assigned to create a comprehensive new bar and restaurant concept that involved research, ideas for its name, identity, logo, tagline, and a complete branding proposal, the release states.

The firm worked with The Collaboratory at Ringling College for the contest. The Collaboratory is a department at Ringling that provides students with opportunities to obtain real-life, client-based project experience.

The winning teams were announced April 23, when the students received $500 each. One winning design, the school says, was “inspired by a rare Caribbean gemstone called Larimar that embodies the beautiful blue colors of the sea and sky.” 'A Splash of Fun' is the tagline for that concept. Another winning design incorporates the island of St. Thomas, the shape of which resembles a footprint, into the logo design. That tagline, 'We Be Limin,' draws from Caribbean slang for hanging out.

“We were absolutely thrilled with the creativity and quality of the design concepts we received,” Jill Ramsey of Sanctuary Holdings says in the release. “They were comparable with the work we've seen from leading agencies, and speak well of the degree of professionalism that Ringling College instills in its students.”