Key West Literary Seminar
Readers welcome.
For more than forty years, Key West Literary Seminar (KWLS) has pursued a mission to promote the understanding of important literary works and their authors, support new American voices, and preserve Key West’s literary heritage while providing resources for readers and writers around the world.
We chose a Magnificent Frigatebird as the KWLS symbol for its qualities as a soaring navigator—silent, sharp-eyed, and drawn to distant horizons. A familiar presence in the skies over Key West, it charts paths forward with clarity and purpose. Like KWLS, it points readers toward discovery, connection, and the expansive possibilities of language.
Photography by Nick Doll.
Context
At the center of KWLS’s programming is its annual seminar, exploring a distinct literary theme each January. In addition, KWLS produces a broad range of initiatives, including the Writers’ Workshop Program, Emerging Writer Awards, the Young Writers Studio, and a Writers in Residence program. As part of their commitment to a vibrant literary culture, they also present dozens of scholarships to teachers, librarians, and students and organize literary tours.
Our challenge was to develop a cohesive brand system that could support these ongoing communications while allowing each seminar to exist as a distinct, standalone identity.
Brand Identity Elements
Who’s that bird?
“Our mascot, Maggie, was modeled after John James Audubon’s illustration of a diving frigatebird and inspired by Elizabeth Bishop, who was first introduced to the bird by her mentor Marianne Moore’s poem ‘The Frigate Pelican.’ Bishop later marveled at ‘those wonderful scissor-tailed man-of-war birds’ that soared over her while swimming in Key West and described their flight in her poem ‘The Bight.’”
Arlo Haskell, Director of KWLS, introducing Maggie
We selected Henry by 205TF, a contemporary serif grounded in the enduring typeface of literary tradition, Garamond.
To reflect the connections KWLS cultivates, we introduced a typographic gesture: a custom ligature linking the “y” and the “i.”
With multiple programs under the KWLS umbrella, a nuanced naming system was essential. Henry Italic provides the clarity and contrast needed to distinguish individual programs while maintaining cohesion across the system.
KWLS brand palette draws from the literary page and Key West’s watery locale and Magnificant Frigatebird greenish-black, rooting the identity in the intersection of literature and place.
In Use
Author Jeff VanderMeer presenting his keynote address at the 2024 seminar, “Florida: The State We’re In.” Photograph by Nick Doll.
Author Joyce Carol Oats signing books at 2023 seminar. Photograph by Nick Doll.
