MERF Adopts Strategic New Logo, Tagline

After months of design work and deliberation, MERF has adopted a new visual identity.

The logo and tagline are the result of work that began in January with a half-day strategic planning session wherein the MERF board of directors charted the non-profit organization’s next phase.

The new logo features a circular image consisting of four smaller images that symbolize open books. These represent the learning that is central to MERF’s mission. When combined in this pattern, the books give the illusion of a bloom, representing growth — another core value of the organization.

The power of this logo, beyond the imagery, is its tagline. In two phrases, four words, it captures the heart of MERF’s mission: Rural Education and Community Development.

“Rural Education” reflects MERF’s mission while tying it to the region it serves. This also sends a strong message to potential grant and sponsorship sources that MERF is focused on an area typically underserved in educational support.

“Community Development” speaks to the work MERF does beyond education (such as senior lunches and the Pathway to Community walking trail) while also positioning the organization to take on projects that contribute to the greater quality of life in the region (such as publication of The Groundhog).

“MERF has done an outstanding job of enriching the living and learning of the community, according to our mission,” says board president Kathryn Norris. “While we’ve stayed true to the work envisioned by our founders more than 30 years ago, this community has also experienced a good bit of change.”

The most impactful change has been the closing of Moon Lake Elementary School. For many years, MERF funded an art teacher for Moon Lake. When the school ceased operations at the end of the 2021 school year, MERF shifted its focus to Valley Head School, where many local students were transferred.

A final, though more subtle, change will be that MERF will phase out of referring to itself by its full legal name of “Mentone Educational Resources Foundation.” This shift, again, is related to the changes brought about by the passage of time.

“MERF is a well-known and recognized name, but the full name no longer accurately reflects the overall work we do,” says board member Joel Leonard. “We now serve an area that extends beyond Mentone, and our work is more than education-based. We do more than provide resources, and we aren’t organized as a true foundation.”

As such, “MERF” will no longer be treated as an acronym for the longer name but the actual name by which people refer to the organization.

“The new logo and tagline do not represent shifts in MERF’s focus,” says Tom MacMichael, vice president of the board. “We have merely refined our focus and developed a visual identity around what has been the heart of MERF all along.”

Look for the new logo and tagline to start appearing on printed materials and social media. They will also be prominent in MERF’s refreshed website due to roll out later this year.