Buies Creek, N.C.—When Campbell University’s Office of the Campus Minister selected the name “The Mustard Seed” for the vegetable garden on U.S. 421 it shares with the Harnett County community, it called upon graphic design students to come up with a logo to represent the name. The logo not only had to be eye-catching, but somehow convey the significance of the mustard seed as a biblical image of what can be accomplished through faith and hard work. For her winning logo, junior Jennifer Varela, of Fuquay-Varina, took her inspiration from a vintage seed packet.
“I used both research and brainstorming and also got the direction and character of the design from the client,” said Varela, a Graphic Design and Studio Art major. “In this case Tyler Ward (graduate assistant in the Campus Minister’s Office) came to speak to us about what Campus Ministries needed for their logo. From there I researched images of mustard seeds, mustard flowers and plants, gardens, seed packets and others. Next I moved on to brainstorming and sketching, and then refined my favorite ideas.”
Varela’s design was a winner, said Ward, because it was visually beautiful and expressed what the Campus Minister’s Office wanted to convey about the garden.
“It immediately caught our eye, which was what we were looking for in the design contest,” he said. “It’s crisp, clean yet organic design offers a glimpse of what a seed can sprout once it has been cared for – it’s bounty. Her design echoes the tender love and care that our community puts into the garden each season. The contrasting image of the mustard seed and the growing branch reminds us that the labor that we put in to make the garden grow will indeed bear fruit and benefit those who will partake of the garden’s reward.”
Varela and Campbell University’s Art Department are a perfect fit, she said.
“The teachers in the Art Department are very good at identifying the different needs of each particular student and helping them find their individual strengths and styles,” she said. “There is ample opportunity to get all of the help you need to fully realize your potential and educational goals.”
A full-time wife and mother of three girls, Varela said Campbell’s tradition of individualized attention has allowed her to get the most out of her education and successfully balance campus life with family life.
“I am an adult returning to school to finish my degree,” she said. “Because the Campbell is such a student-oriented, friendly community, it understands my family commitment.”
Varela, who will graduate in May 2012, plans to establish a business in Fuquay-Varina as a free-lance graphic designer, copy writer and artist.
A mission outreach opportunity of the Campbell University Campus Ministries Office, produce from The Mustard Seed Garden is meant to supply food pantries, impoverished persons and local churches in the area that distribute food to those in need.
The garden is tended by students, faculty and staff of Campbell University and volunteers from the community and is prepared, maintained and harvested under the leadership of garden organizer and Campbell alumna Billie Hurley, who has a background in agriculture and a strong belief in serving the community. The garden was also designed to build cooperative efforts between Campbell University and the Harnett County community.
Photo Copy: Jennifer Varela’s winning logo design for the “Mustard Seed Garden Community Garden