Two Dedham High Students Win Coalition Logo Redesign Contest

DEDHAM, MA — The Dedham Coalition for Drug and Alcohol Awareness has a new name and logo thanks to two Dedham High School students, Victoria Horard and Vivien Boudette. The Coalition, a community-based initiative to reduce youth substance use, collaborated with DHS art teacher Amy Vega to make the rebranding a project in both of her graphic design classes. Cassandra Bigness, the program coordinator, presented to Ms. Vega’s students about the project and what the coalition was looking for in a new logo.

A total of twenty-one submissions were received from the graphic design classes. The students all worked very hard on their designs and the coalition voted on the new name and logo earlier this month.

The name of the Coalition is being changed from the Dedham Coalition for Drug and Alcohol Awareness (DCDAA) to the Dedham Organization for Substance Awareness (DOSA). The logo was designed by Victoria Horard.

Victoria Horard is 17-years-old and a senior at DHS. Victoria loves graphic design because “It allows me to materialize ideas I have in my head using a computer. I’ve never been skilled at drawing with paper and pencil but with a computer and mouse, there are no boundaries. Any color, shape, and pattern I want can be made with a few clicks. Despite some areas of ease, there is always room to improve in graphic art. I love that I’m always learning new ways to make be better and execute more challenging projects.” Victoria was influenced by “DOSA’s message of not trying to shame people, but more so educate them. I thought it was a very caring way of thinking, so I connected it with ideas of nurture and caring symbolized by a heart. I also wanted to include a figure to represent the organization and the educators who care about substance awareness. By combining the two I made the new logo.”

The new name was created by Vivien Boudette. Vivien is 15 years old and a sophomore at DHS. She is interested in graphic design because she likes, “Being able to express creativity and come up with unique ideas through graphic design to showcase ideas, or just make a piece of art that looks good.” When creating the new name, Vivien said she, “Really wanted to come up with something shorter for the organization that was easy to say and understand. I saw an opportunity to be creative and find a unique name."