Aglionby Academy's History
Photo of the Aglionby Academy Sweatshirt in Grey. Modeled by the Marie from College Bookcore
Take a deeper look into all the details that make up this classic design
In 2010, my local library hosted a talk by Maggie Stiefvater, the author of Shiver, for a group of aspiring high school writers. She shared a story she’d been dreaming about since her college days about a girl named Blue. Years later, when The Raven Boys was published, I was first in line to read it. As a teenager obsessed with Arthurian legends and growing up in the Virginia countryside, Henrietta felt so real to me, like a place I could step into. This Aglionby design was created to honor that feeling and to let me wear a sweatshirt representing the high school I wish I could have attended.
We first looked to Harvard’s crest design for inspiration. Call Down the Hawk had recently been published and Adam’s path to Harvard is present even in the first series. Aglionby Academy seemed like a funnel school for rich boys to head off the ivy leagues, so a similar crest would invoke the proper prestige and ground the design in the world of elite schooling.
The shield background, open book, and a scroll became integral parts of our own design. Once we had a base, it was almost like putting together a puzzle of how to fit all of the characters and story into a single graphic. Gansey was simple. He would be represented by his journal and Harvard’s crest provided the perfect shape for it. Ronan, Adam and Noah are the three ravens flying under his direction.
Translating Owain Glyndŵr was a bit of a challenge. He does not have widely recognized symbols and we needed something that could stand for him and also represent the story. In the end, a 1400s crown fit the look we were going for.
While not an Aglionby Boy, Blue is our best girl and the main character. She is also part tree. So while some of you might have seen the tree as a representation for Cabeswater, it is also our tribute to Blue, grounding the whole design story and being the largest element because that is what Blue does.
Every good crest has a motto in a scroll and while there are so many memorable quotes we deliberated on, the one that fit perfectly was the Latin phrase “The trees speak Latin”.
Our final sample was ordered in grey because we fully believed that this was the default Aglionby color. After we released it, you all showed us that was far from the truth. To this day, the most popular color is navy! What do you believe Aglionby Academy should have as it’s casual Friday uniform color?
Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness. Her raven boys.
— Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Cycle
