When approached to design the identity for PS118 The Maurice Sendak Community School, Principal Elizabeth Garraway indicated that children holding hands around a globe would be the ideal mark. She wanted to express a multi-cultural vibe and claim the community and the world beyond as an extension of the classroom. The school color would be maroon.

With these things in mind, I made a mark that consists of a globe surrounded by the school's initials, which appear to be holding hands. To give the maroon meaning, I pretended that it was created by mixing other bright, playful colors. The maroon globe becomes a melting pot. As I worked on subsequent materials, I began playing more with "hand-holding" as a typographic behavior and these mixing colors.