The need
Roberta Golez emailed me on January 23, 2025, for her interpreting cohort at Ohlone College. They were starting the last semester of their interpreting program. Every cohort picks an animal, and two years earlier they had picked seals. They wanted the design on their stoles for the program graduation in May 2025.
They asked for a still image: a cute, cartoony seal head that transitions down into the handshape for the ASL sign SEAL. Roberta's first email asked for "a mix between the hands/handshape for the sign SEAL layered on/next to a drawing of an actual seal!" The final files had to suit a custom printing company. Later, they also asked for a black-outline version for embroidery.
The process
First, I asked questions so we were on the same page. Did they want the seal and the handshape, or just the handshape? Cartoony, or closer to a real seal? The words "transitioning down" made me imagine animation, so I also checked whether they wanted 2D animation or a still drawing. They wanted a still.
My process is a rough sketch for feedback, then clean line art, full coloring and the final files:
- January 30, 2025: I sent 3 rough options, and Roberta picked #3.
- February 2, 2025: I sent 2 color designs. One has the hands in Ohlone College's own colors.
- February 4, 2025: I sent the black-outline version for embroidery.
From the first email to the final files took about 12 days.
The choice I am proudest of is how thoughtfully I brought Ohlone College's color branding into the seal. One of the two color designs puts the hands in almost all of the college's colors, and Roberta loved it. She wrote: "The Ohlone color options was so thoughtful of you, I am obsessed!"
The result
Roberta wrote back after graduation. The seal was named Sally, and she was embroidered on their graduation stoles. She was also on the slides of just about every presentation that each of the 11 students gave for the rest of the semester. Roberta wrote: "Sally the Seal was the perfect embodiment of our cohort" and "we will cherish her and wear her with pride for the rest of our careers."
This is one of the sweetest and most rewarding projects I've ever done. I absolutely love it when I get to see the happy result. It hits me so differently as a designer when I get to see, through my client's eyes, how much my work helped them move on to the next chapter of their life. I admit it got me a little emotional, in a happy way. I hope more clients share stories and follow-ups like this. It's the small things that remind me how much life really matters.