Logo for high end but down to earth Summer Camp

Gate Hill Day Camp

Gate Hill Day Camp is a private summer day camp for campers aged 3-15 located in Rockland country, NY. We provide a high end customer service experience and modern facilities, but our attitude is down to earth, approachable and we have a strong sense of family community among our customers. We have a "campy" feel, with silly traditions and special events, We offer a broad mix of sports, arts and swimming. Our strengths are our high level of customer communication (parents are updated on their child's progress regularly by phone/email), our instructional swim program and facilities (4 pools/3 storey super slide!) our setting; a beautiful 33 acres of shady trails set against the backdrop of Harriman State Park; lastly, we pay great attention to the presentation of our facility, constantly making changes and keeping our look fresh - its a beautiful place. Gate Hill is a place that campers feel comfortable, make friends and try new things, be it a sport like handball, art like ceramics or something different like drama, fishing or rock climbing. We have special programs for early childhood, teen travel and our growing arts/sciences division: the Explorers. As a medium sized camp, our size allows us to run a higher quality program than smaller camps, but campers don't get 'lost in the crowd'. Our directors are personable and directly accessible to customers.

Our brand appeals to families that are looking for a high end experience, but value the sense of family community we have and our down to earth/humble attitude. As a medium sized camp, our size allows us to run a higher quality program than smaller camps, but campers don't get 'lost in the crowd'. Our audience is partially our existing community, who get excited about apparel (we provide branded giveaways multiple times a summer). The logo will also have to target new customers who don't know the brand.

See our website http://www.gatehilldaycamp.com for a full introduction to camp, especially the video slideshow in the learn about gate hill section.

We are looking for either a re imagining of our existing logo, or a complete redesign, we will consider designs equally. We truly don't have a 'look' or style in mind. However we are anxious to try and convey the feeling of warmth, and down to earth community that we have, for example a minimalist symbol might be unable to convey that.

It is important that the name of the camp is very clear to read. One of the issues with the existing logo is that the words 'Day Camp' are a little hard to read, customers often look at our displays and then ask us if we are a day camp or a sleepaway camp - the logo should explain the product.

The logo will be used on a variety of apparel, some of which is screen printed in 1 color, over the years we have developed a line drawing version of the logo, as well as a "collegiate logo" that we have used in place of our regular logo in certain instances. We would rather not have 2 discrete logos, and would desire a logo that satisfies (, or could easily have a B+W version that satisfies) this goal. We sometimes use the abbreviation GHDC with in house families.

The logo will be used in a variety of print and web marketing, as well as on letterheads, and its important that it remains clear on a variety of backgrounds, including photos). Our existing logo does a good job of this, but often the spiked "sun rays" at the top are not obvious.