On Sunday, December 7, THON unveiled its 2026 logo to accompany the theme “Love Leads Forward.” The reveal at Family Carnival sparked excitement and unfolded the hard work and imagination behind its creation. Meet Aradhana Sood, a second-year graphic design major and the mind behind THON’s latest logo. 

Onward State: How did the opportunity to create the THON logo come about? 

Aradhana Sood: I am currently in two graphic design studios, one of which is GD200, a class called “Products”. This class focuses on creating brand and print materials based on concepts that were relevant to us here at Penn State. It’s exciting to be working on projects that connect us to real people, in a relevant space, and for good causes, rather than a theoretical client. It makes work more inspired and intentional. The THON Logo was the first project of this class, and the Merchandise Director for THON 2026 came into our class during the first week of school to present the opportunity and allow us to start working on it. It was honestly so surreal working on a project for such a good cause and an event so large; it took a lot of time because we all wanted to make sure every detail in our designs was perfect. There are 20 or so classmates of mine in that class, and we all submitted our logos and proposals to THON, and the Merchandise Committee selected mine to move forward with.

OS: What was the initial inspiration behind your THON 2026 logo?

AS: My initial inspiration behind the logo was my siblings. I have four siblings, and I wanted to portray “Love Leads Forward” through the lens of that relationship. Anyone who has a sibling knows you’re in it with them through thick and thin, and I think that was kind of what led me to create a logo that embodied that. I’m the eldest out of all of us, and I think I saw myself in the role of the girl in my logo, being with them throughout, and trying to help out.

OS: What was your creative process from concept to final design? 

AS: The creative process for this was really unlike any other projects I’ve done so far. We spent about 3 weeks in class and hours outside of class just sketching out ideas and putting something on paper; the good, the bad, the confused. In the end, I was left with about 100-110 sketches, ranging from the very first ideation sketch to perfecting the characters in the logo. After sketching, I ended up digitizing my logo about a dozen or so times, changing the characters, the way the plane was flying, and overall how everything was fitting proportionally in a space. Even though it was time-consuming, it was worth it, because I could tangibly see the idea get stronger each time I digitized it, and that really kept me motivated to try and perfect what I would see in my head out onto a screen.

OS: What was the most difficult part of creating the logo?

AS: The most difficult part of creating the logo was probably the ideation and digitization. I was sketching a lot, and there were times when I just felt as though I had hit a roadblock, and getting out of a funk to keep creating wasn’t the easiest. Something that normally works for me is taking a step back and distancing myself from a project so that I can come back to it with fresh eyes and a new mindset.

OS: Can you break down the different elements of your design and what they mean? 

AS: The different elements of the design, for me, are broken up into three main categories: the concept, the characters, and the additional imagery. The concept for this design stemmed from the plane. This plane was meant to represent both a forward motion and the whimsical nature of playing pretend. I wanted this logo to be universal, in the sense that I wanted the children to be able to see themselves in it, and I wanted those who are involved in THON to be transported back to their childhood memories of playing make-believe. Nostalgia is a powerful and universal emotion, and I wanted to incorporate that. The next part is the characters. This was the element in the design that represented the “love” part of the theme. I wanted the relationship portrayed to be something that the audience and viewers can relate to, and a relationship that was special to me. And lastly, the additional elements were the swoops behind the plane and stars. The “swoops,” as I like to call them, rounded off and balanced the logo, while giving it more movement. And finally, the stars were added to give the viewer context, and the child reaching for them, quite literally, stemmed from the phrase “reaching for the stars”. It represents doing things outside of your comfort zone, being the best version of yourself, and doing things that other people tell you are impossible.

OS: What does THON mean to you personally, and how did that influence your design? 

AS: When I think of THON, I think of love, community, and selflessness. That sense of love and togetherness is really special. I am part of a THON committee this year on HOS, and I have just met the most wonderful people. My captains, Lexi Takach and Ethan Shalaby, are so positive and funny and kind, and all of the people in the committee have been that way since the beginning. I think just seeing the kind of community THON can foster just by us having meetings each week and getting to know each other, not even on a large scale, influenced my design through the idea of connection and fostering relationships.

OS: Describe your design in 3 words. 

AS: Playful, inviting, nostalgic. 

OS: How did it feel to see your logo revealed publicly for the first time?

AS: It felt a bit like a fever dream. I was so incredibly excited to be there, but was super nervous to speak at Family Carnival, and was nervous about how the design would be perceived or thought about. Once the banner dropped, it felt like time stopped for a minute, and I got teary-eyed, because looking around, other people had teared up as well. I realized that it was being seen the way I had seen it, and I was truly overwhelmed by the greatest joy. Being able to do this for THON was incredible because the logo is so much bigger than just a banner. It was touching people in real time, and it was representative of a cause that all of us come together for. Seeing the unity and just feeling the love in the room is what makes THON so special, and it is honestly one of the greatest honors.

OS: What emotion or message do you hope viewers will receive from your logo? 

AS: I hope that the viewers can see themselves in the logo. As I said in my speech at Family Carnival, people make people better. We need each other, in humanity, as a society, in a community, our friends, our families; we all need each other. And crossing the paths and lives of people you may never have met, if not for one moment in time, is one of the most beautiful things I know to be true. I hope that the logo represents for people what it represents for me: that we need each other to soar. I want people to feel a sense of hope, that they are never alone, and that love and connection can be an answer and a solution.

OS: What did you learn about yourself as an artist/creator through this experience?

AS: I learned how to be more patient with myself and how to scrap ideas if they objectively weren’t working. I started from scratch so much that I was able to accept when something didn’t work and push myself to make it better by giving myself some grace.