By Ken Stickney

ken.stickney@panews.com

Third-semester graphic design student Lane Glaze took first prize in a Lamar State College Port Arthur competition to design the new logo for the city’s Transit Department.

Ben Stafford, dean of workforce and continuing education, said the Transit Department wanted to rebrand its department, including developing a new logo.

“What better place to turn than Lamar Port Arthur?” he said, for design help.

In a brief ceremony Tuesday at the Student Center, Stafford named Haley Broussard and Irene Iju-James as runners-up in the competition and Glaze as the winner. All three are students of Associate Professor Grace Megnet.

Megnet said the competition was built into her class, which is part of the coursework for the two-year graphic design degree. She said the winning design integrated the transit buses with the city of Port Arthur and the state of Texas in a “pleasant and recognizable” completed product.

“I can’t wait to see buses going down Procter with the logo on them,” she said.

She may need to wait a bit. Ivan Mitchell, transit director for the city of Port Arthur, said the logo would be placed on new transit buses as they are added to the fleet, which may not happen until late January.

He said it is more likely the logo will first be seen on shirts worn by department employees or perhaps on new signs that will be placed at bus stops.

Glaze, 25, said he’s seen and ridden the city buses so he worked his design from that base of knowledge.

The 2011 graduate of Nederland High said he plans to complete his graphic design degree, then study drafting at Lamar Port Arthur.

The winner earned $500; the two runners-up split $300.