College students have it rough: parties, sleeping until noon, Ramen noodles. Graduation comes, and with it the cold, cruel punch in the face of student loan debt. The DC529 College Savings Plan exists to soften that blow—for students and the parents who saw it coming.

The logo uses easily recognizable symbols of the District of Columbia to simultaneously represent the dream and the reality of higher education. It ultimately became the visual foundation for the plan's overall package design, which has helped thousands of parents start saving before their children take their first steps along the path to public drunkenness.