Written by admin on September 3, 2010 – 9:38 pm
The local paper recently described the decision of a large university to change from one logo to another, and apparently, this new logo was considered controversial and unattractive, making the university appear foolish.While it was neither foolish nor an abomination, it does teach us a lesson that whenever you are going to design a prominent logo or re-design a standard, well-known logo, you need to get input from those involved with regard to identity and overall logo development.
In retrospect, the university expresses regret in not obtaining student recommendations about the new logo design, and the university decided not to release the graphics standards, in order to update the university seal and logo, according to reports.But no actual crimes were committed by the university against itself or its students and residents, a fact that was not made clear in your coverage.To find logo contest information see this resource.
The university, like with any other type of business, should release specific information in order to standardize the use of a single logo that they wish to be used by students with the university seal.In terms of graphic identity programs, there is a rule that states all institutions need to standardize their logo marks as well as instate concise rules about the use of them so they are more recognizable.
Because the previous logo the university used was a bit confusing, they made the right decision to have it changed. It may seem like a simple project, but designing a new logo is an extremely difficult task, especially if that logo is used to encompass such a diverse institution and student body.The logo of a university must represent everything the institution stands for, and in the case of a school this goes from physics to sports.As a person who has witnessed endless verbal battles over logo design, I still maintain that it’s a task which should be left to specialists.
One of the shockers of the situation was the reported $20,000 that was paid to a logo designer by the university, but that amount is really nothing considering what is going to be spent on printing and any other costs that are associated with conveying identity. Anytime a well known institution has a new logo designed, people are going to find reasons to hate it, and some of them are as follows: To get a closer look on logo competitions visit this site.
Most people have a problem with change, especially when the change is to a symbol that they are emotionally invested in. Another thing to consider is that since the logo is the public representation of the university, if someone had an underlying concern they may just redirect it towards the logo issue.And there are those who think they can judge someone’s work who has been professionally changed even though they have never even passed an art class.
Some time will be required, in order for a new logo to be accepted.If the university expected that after not having a clear logo mark for nearly 120 years a new design would be accepted and embraced with open arms by the students, faculty, local residents and alumni, they were only kidding themselves.I am acquainted with several people that still use, even in the face of threats from higher management, outdated company logos because they are attached to them.The point of this is that the companies can fire people for insubordination, but they also have a problem with change. All the unofficial university symbols should have immediately been discarded and if they were not, it is not the fault of the administration.
Even though the university should have included some of the students’ opinions in the design, in their defense it would have been impossible to make everyone (students, staff, alumni, residents) happy with the end results of the final product.
Logos need to be unique enough to stand out, yet must have a sense of familiarity in order to inspire, and should be clear enough that they can be used in any instance across the board.The logo needs to be consistently distributed through every material the institution puts out, so it becomes even more recognizable. I believe that the new logo for the university lives up to these requirements, or is well on its way to doing so.The university started out with nothing specific so even though the students don’t completely agree with the logo design, it is better than what they had before, which was nothing specific.