Columbia City Area Chamber of Commerce unveils new logo created by CCHS student Rachel Hazelet
(Talk of the Town photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Five Columbia City High School art students were recognized for their efforts in creating a logo for the Columbia City Area Chamber of Commerce. Three members of the Chamber board were present for the ceremony, including Judy Moore, Jack Moore and Doug Brown. Above, from left, in row one is Brittany Bellam, Linda Hershman, Rachel Hazelet and Judy Moore. Row two, from left, is Doug Brown, Nick Ewing, Alivia Walker, art teacher Chad Moore and Jack Moore.
Below, the Rachel Hazelet is presented with an award from Chamber board chairman Jack Moore recognizing her design as the one selected by the Chamber for use. The logo is also shown below. At bottom, the students and their instructor, Chad Moore, listen as Jack Moore thanks the students for their work.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
Gathered in anticipation, a group of aspiring graphic designers stood in the hallway of Columbia City High School Friday morning eager to hear who got the job. 
For the past several weeks, the five students had been working on what amounted to their first professional design gig – creating a dynamic new logo for the Columbia City Area Chamber of Commerce.
And Friday, the winning design was unveiled.
CCHS art instructor Chad Moore lead the students through the very real world experience of critiquing their work, reworking their designs, refining their work and, at the end, completing a successful project.
“It is real life experience,” Moore said. “That’s what it is all about. I try to stress in class that what we do is what they will really do as graphic designers.”
After the initial designs were received, representatives from the Chamber began evaluating them, tweaking them, trying different color palates and determining which design would work best as the organization’s official new look. 
It has been many years, since the Chamber had a new logo – so all involved in the project wanted to make sure they picked one that fit well.
“I just knew I wanted it to be simple, elegant, classic,” said graphic design student Rachel Hazelet.
Standing before the group of her peers Friday morning, Hazelet learned that her design was selected by the Chamber.
“They told us they wanted a logo – that was it,” Hazelet said, adding that she worked on the program every day for two weeks.
With her first major project under her belt, Hazelet said she’s seriously considering pursuing a career in graphic design. “I’m thinking about it,” she said.
“This really got them engaged and it’s easy to teach when they are engaged,” Moore said of his students.
Other students participating in the project included Alivia Walker, Nick Ewing, Linda Hershman and Brittany Bellam. Each student received a certificate of recognition.
