It may well be the most famous Ruth Bader Ginsburg quote of all time: When the late, great Supreme Court Justice was asked how many women on the Supreme Court would be enough, she responded immediately, succinctly, and with her trademark take-no-prisoners candor. “When there are nine,” she replied evenly, as though it were the most obvious answer in the world.

It was her calmness that got us; her deliberateness. As if she’d already asked herself that question many years before and had, in her reasoned way, arrived at the perfectly sensible conclusion. And all of us who had reflexively answered “half” upon hearing the same question were brought up short yet again by her quiet, fierce insistence on challenging assumptions. Those of us who were truly listening knew we’d been handed both a gift and our marching orders.

In that spirit, a coalition of alumnae of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in partnership with the Federal Bar Foundation established the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project, in memory of the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Fund’s stated mission is to honor the lifelong work of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to advance equality and diversity and to continue the late Justice’s many efforts to expand career opportunities for women attorneys.

And in that same spirit we were honored and thrilled when that impressive, inspiring group reached out to us for help with a logo. Also fully cognizant of the fact that this was RBG we were talking about. So, you know, no pressure.

These are the moments when good guidelines are a true godsend. When it comes to logos, we go SMART: Simple, Memorable, Appropriate, Resizable, Timeless. (See Logo Logic: The 5 Hidden Rules Behind that Logo You Love)

They are also the moments when conversations truly matter. “Beyond the name of the project, what do you want this logo to convey?” we asked. “It needs to feel emotional,” they responded. “It needs to communicate the sense of Justice Ginsburg’s legacy, and how this scholarship fund will enlarge it and move it forward. It should suggest the ideas of mentorship, sisterhood, and empowerment. And it needs to reflect the reputation of the founders and alumnae of the Southern District of New York.”

It sounds like a lot for one logo to accomplish. But that’s what logos are often called upon to do, and with this one we had rich symbology to draw on—a good thing, because we made the decision almost immediately to not use a likeness of RBG. Rule of thumb: When the internet offers a multitude of graphic treatments of your subject printed on refrigerator magnets and cocktail napkins, it’s best to look elsewhere for design inspiration.

Ultimately, we presented five concepts to the team. While we felt each one was a solid choice, the one they chose was the standout to us as well:

More about the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project

Justice Ginsburg was a trailblazer and pioneering advocate for women’s rights. A Brooklyn native, she graduated first in her class from Columbia Law School while raising her young daughter and supporting her husband through cancer treatment. Justice Ginsburg repeatedly overcame the gender discrimination she would later spend the better part of her career seeking to eradicate in the courts and her advocacy and the cases that she won opened doors for so many women. The founding members of the Fund, all of whom had the privilege of serving in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, benefitted greatly from Justice Ginsburg’s efforts and, upon her passing, established the Fund to honor her legacy by encouraging future generations of women to pursue rewarding careers in the law and making such a career choice financially accessible to all women.

The Fund will provide financial support to deserving law students who otherwise may not have full access to a legal education and who embody the spirit reflected by Justice Ginsburg’s achievements in the face of adversity. In addition to funding, Scholarship recipients will receive mentorship and support from the women who established the Fund and their professional community as well as from the Federal Bar Council. The Fund embraces Justice Ginsburg’s view that “We should not be held back from pursuing our full talents, from contributing what we could contribute to the society, because we fit into a certain mold — because we belong to a group that historically has been the object of discrimination.”