Inspired by a symbol of resistance against Nazi occupation - paper clips worn on lapels - the teachers and children of Whitwell Middle School came up with a simple but profound idea: to fill a memorial railcar with 11 million paper clips, representing the victims of the Holocaust.

Thirty million paper clips were sent to the school, many with personal stories of how the Holocaust affected families, as well as from Presidents, actors and directors, and schoolchildren around the world.

Today, Paper Clips is a full length documentary from Miramax Films and One Clip at a Time is a not for profit that has created an interactive teaching kit to motivate and empower 5th grade students to make positive changes in their own classrooms and communities.

Widgets & Stone was privileged to be invited to design the identity for this nonprofit, thanks to Alison Lebowitz, Executive Director of the program and Pat Buckley of the Johnson Group.

The One Clip curriculum will help students examine subjects of prejudice and stereotyping in order to find ways to combat hatred and promote understanding. It will give students the opportunity to identify local issues and to create detailed action plans for concrete changes in their own communities. And it will inspire and empower students to become not only socially aware, but also socially active as they learn to examine their individual roles and responsibilities in our society.

One Clip at a Time Goals

• To make the One Clip Teaching Kit available at no cost to every fifth grade classroom in the country
• To maintain a web site that provides additional materials and resources, and forums for sharing success stories and ideas
• To inspire youth activism and provide opportunities and resources for students to make positive changes in their own communities
• To perpetuate and sustain the Paper Clips Project and Children's Holocaust Memorial located at Whitwell Middle School (in Whitwell, Tennessee)
• To change the world...one class at a time

The Brand Identity Design
Widgets & Stone approached this project with several key factors in mind:

1. The target audience is 5th graders - and their teacher and curriculum developers, so the identity should communicate and appeal to a young audience.

2. The identity should be as simple and timeless as the design of the paper clip itself.

3.The identity should be iconic, simplifying the relatively long name of the organization into a concise and memorable symbol.

The result is a combination of the number 1 and a paper clip.

A benefit of the design is that it can be fashioned into a physical object - its very own paper clip or lapel pin:

The design also lends itself to application in a wide variety of arrangements and patterns, as seen in the letterhead design:

Alison G. Lebovitz, President of One Clip at a Time, said:

"The logo makes me so happy. The letterhead makes me smile, because it is so streamlined and simple but when I turn it over the back is wild and unpredictable, with all of those clips in metallic ink. Even the envelopes are cool. I mean really, who has cool envelopes?"

"Thank you for your patience and dedication throughout this process, and for helping our not-for-profit get off to an amazing start!"

The playful, simple and childlike appeal of the design gives a wonderful first impression of an important and powerful curriculum.

Absolutely beautiful.