Amidst the Grand Junction summer heat, construction for the new “Hotel Maverick” was showing steady progress. Despite the structural advances, one major aspect was missing entirely from the new addition to Colorado Mesa University (CMU): a logo.

To fill the void, Eli Hall, the Associate Professor of Art at CMU, selected design students Benjamin Haver, Cassie Fortman and Logan Wagner. Hall felt that the students were up to the task based off of their dexterity with design, ability to produce good work in spite of pressure and their overall work ethic.

To decide which of the students’ designs were most fitting to establish a brand identity for the hotel, their logos were judged by CMU President of Student Services Tim Foster, Mars Hospitality and the CMU marketing team. The three students presented upwards of twenty logos, which included ideas for the actual hotel, restaurant and coffee shop.

The workload was anything but easy. Haver told the Criterion that “…the workload for me was 100 hours of work in about 3 weeks for this project. This was on top of preparing for my second art show at Kiln Coffee Bar and goodman normal job at the same time!”

His partners’ workload was no different. “The workload of designing the logos was pretty intense; I ended up designing 28 myself in a pretty short time span. It was the kind of experience that shows you what you’re truly capable of under pressure,” Fortman mentioned.

After a tough decision, it was Haver’s design that was ultimately selected to become the new brand of Hotel Maverick.

“I felt excited when I found out my logos had been chosen. The team and I worked up an amazing presentation and logo set for the decision makers for Hotel Maverick. We were just excited they like so many,” Haver said.

Even though Haver’s logo was selected, all the students benefited from the real world experience they had received from participating. Along with that, Mars Hospitality awarded each student 1,500 dollars in scholarship money.