University of Wynwood founder & director Scott Cunningham checks in with an update on the project…

“Welcome to the University of Wynwood. We’re not a real university, but we do a lot of things that universities do, like organize lectures and panels, host visiting speakers and poets, and publish local writers.

This summer, thanks to Knight Foundation funding, we expanded our programming and created a brand-new website: universityofwynwood.org, designed by local poet and programmer Christopher Louvet. The most fun part about the redesign was combining Christopher’s web savvy with the cartooning skills of Isaac Littlejohn Eddy (yes, that’s his real name), whom we hired to create our University seal. By night, Isaac is a performer in Manhattan’s the Blue Man Group —drumming, catching marshmallows and banging on plastic tubes—but by day, he draws for the New York Times’ Fort Greene Neighborhood blog, where he turns interviews with local residents into cartoons. He has also recently begun to attack more serious subjects with his playful and disarming style.

For our Seal, we directed Isaac to explore the wonderful contradictions that make Miami so unique, while simultaneously shying away from design choices that we felt have been overused in representing the city: clean lines, art deco, bright colors, and Don Johnson’s sport coat. If you look closely, you’ll notice a python and an alligator swallowing each other’s tails, a nod to the much-publicized news story from last year, but also our take on the Ouroboros, an ancient symbol of self-reinvention. We feel pretty strongly that Miami is what you make it, and our goal is to make it a place where literature thrives. If you have a second, visit our site, put our events in your calendar, and sign up for our Invitations. We promise we won’t give you a grade.”