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Great Seal of the School of Information Studies

New Seal for Information Studies

In honor of Florida State University's sesquicentennial (1851- 2001), and in honor of 75 years of dedicated work and distinguished accomplishments that have built the School of Information Studies, the school has commissioned a new seal.

Brian Arbogast de Hubert-Miller, a sculptor from Central Florida, was chosen to create the seal. His work has been commissioned for the public spaces of major corporations, such as BellSouth, Bank of America, Arthur Andersen, and Johnson & Johnson.

For the past 20 years, Brian's work has focused on layers of meaning in the representation of text and images -- an issue that information professionals deal with every day. Brian was asked to bring his sensibility to bear in creating a visual expression of the school in this time of rapid change in the information environment. Greg Bradley, a senior in the Arts Department at FSU, collaborated with Brian to render the final design and prepare electronic files.

Although people will bring their own interpretations to the iconography in the new seal, the artist's intent is reflected in the explanation provided below.

Jane B. Robbins, Dean
School of Information Studies
2 March 2001

About the Seal

The Great Seal of the School of Information Studies is a composite of several meaningful elements:

Icon: Choosing a figure as the central image for the seal and as the school's symbol puts human beings at the center of the information exchange process and reflects the school's vision statement: People and Information: Making Vital Connections.

On a cultural level, the shape of the figure builds on the iconography of the Statue of Liberty. That figure cradles a book and holds aloft a torch to signal the way. In the school's seal, the figure is depicted with one arm folded, reflecting the cradling or custodial role of information professionals. The other arm of the figure is held aloft, reflecting both a signal of willingness to help provide guidance along the path to knowledge and, by implication, liberty.

Breaking apart the figure, the individual components can be seen a representing the following:

	The dot represents the ubiquitous presence of the Internet. It is an appropriation of the period that appears in the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and divides World Wide Web addresses into domains.
	The "i" stands for information. Using the lower case "i" for the body and head of the figure recognizes the dual importance of information as a central human construct and the cognitive process of becoming informed.
	The #1 that represents the body of the figure is an indication of the school's desire to attain and support the highest levels of achievement of each individual in our learning and research community.

Background: The background of the seal is composed of authentic geometric patterns drawn from historic Native American textiles produced by the Seminole tribe in Florida. Use of these patterns reflects a respect for one element of Florida's past, and reminds us that the culture of Florida State University has developed in a rich and diverse context.

Bands: The seal is enclosed by a band of characters representing the ASCII decimal notation for: School of Information Studies and The Florida State University. The numbers of this notation are spaced to correspond with the words in the inner band. The use of this ASCII "puzzle" reflects the notion of codes and surrogate representations that are integral to the work of information professionals.

Dates: The founding date of the school appears on the left side and the founding date for the university appears on the right side. Although the School of Information Studies was founded in 1947, library education has been offered at the Florida State University since 1926.

Typefaces: The central figure is loosely based on the lower case letter "i" from the typeface: True Type: Matura MT Script Capitals. Helvetica is the typeface used for the text in the seal.

Variations: The simplified seals shown below will be used in situations where use of the great seal is inhibited by reproduction constraints.

Guidelines: Use of the logo is encouraged. Inquiries regarding guidelines for approved uses and special uses should be directed to Reggie Grant, Publications Coordinator, School of Information Studies at grant@lis.fsu.edu.