Celebrating our College Crest

Ms Kathryn Huggard designed the College Crest we all know and love in 1992 after her neighbour, Mr Valmond Bird, alerted her to a design competition advertised in the newspaper. Mr Bird was a Queensland Member of Parliament and served as the Minister for Education in the late 1970s, proceeding to keep a keen eye on the education sector after his retirement from Parliament in 1983. Knowing Ms Hubbard was completing studies in graphic design, he encouraged her to apply.

At the time, there was not yet a College campus or established visual identity to draw from for the design of the crest.  “All I knew was the name would be West Moreton Anglican College,” she told students at a special morning tea event hosted at the College.

Having just completed qualifications in graphic design back in 1992, Kathryn commenced her research of the area to gain inspiration; research conducted well before the internet.

Kathryn began with visiting an Anglican Church, corresponding with St John’s Cathedral in Brisbane to learn more about its symbolism. That research led her to the compass rose, an emblem representing the worldwide Anglican Communion and its global mission, which she placed at the centre of her design.

She then looked closer to home. Recognising RAAF Base Amberley as an important part of the local area, Kathryn contacted the Base and requested photographs and material she could use for inspiration. The ‘wings’ of the RAAF emblem became another important element of the design.

Kathryn also contacted Ipswich City Council to research local flora and fauna. Her final design incorporated bougainvillea, then the floral emblem of Ipswich, alongside wattle representing South East Queensland.

Kathryn brought the elements together by hand, working through layers of tracing paper, sketches and refinements to create a crest that would intentionally remain distinctive when reproduced as a small badge or pin.

Her winning design earned a $100 prize and a phone call from founding College Council Chair Dr Hugh Bartholomeusz, congratulating her and requesting some final adjustments. She later attended the College’s official opening on invitation from the College’s Founding Principal, Mr Paul Claridge; an event she attended when the campus looked very different from the WestMAC we know today.

During her recent visit, Kathryn joined Principal Andrew Peach, Deputy Principal Janelle Lecinski, student leaders and the College Marketing team for morning tea. The visit comes as the College has worked to carefully update the original hand-drawn crest for modern applications. 

Students had the chance to see her original correspondence from her design research, as well as her original artwork, and ask questions about her career and creative process.

Middle School College Captain Melicia Corney summed up the occasion simply: “Just feeling a bit star struck, to be honest.”

Kathryn was delighted to be invited back to WestMAC and to see her original work carried forward in its updated form. She described the updated crest as “beautiful” and “very crisp and clean”, giving a fitting endorsement to the careful work of preserving her design for a new era.