Ken Steele completes his review of 12 higher ed rebrands in the past 2 years that sparked a backlash from campus stakeholders and alumni.
Western Sydney University (Australia):
When its name changed from “The University of Western Sydney” in 2015, WSU also abandoned its 13-year-old logo, which featured a “bluebird” icon. Although the former logo felt pretty cool and corporate, students nonetheless had become emotionally attached to the bluebird, and launched a #SaveTheBlueBird campaign on Twitter.
Penn State University (PA):
When one of the largest universities in the world changes its visual identity, plenty of people take notice! Penn State, with almost 100,000 students on more than 20 campuses, had been using the same brand identity for 30 years when it finally launched a rebrand in 2015. The new look was much cleaner, focusing the shield on just the head of the “Nittany Lion” shrine, and using a modern slab-serif typeface. The illustration was fairly realistic, of the stone shrine itself – but as a result the lion’s eyes seemed blank, unblinking, almost zombie-like.
Berklee College of Music (MA):
Berklee’s former logo was barely a logo at all: simple type in the corner of a red block. It didn’t reproduce well at small sizes, and in 2015 Berklee unveiled a rebrand that focused on the single word, “Berklee”, with a new icon (the “natural” notation).
University of Leicester (UK):
The former shield, in use for 20 years, was an awful orange colour, with intricate details and a Latin motto, and used a very dated typeface for the wordmark.
Linköping University (Sweden):
Since its founding in 1975, Linköping (pron. “Lingschoping”) has used a variation of its official seal as its visual identity. In 2015 the rebrand was a bright blue block containing bold initials, “li.u” – much to the chagrin of almost 5,000 students, who expected something more conventional.
Wheaton College (MA):
Students and alumni were naturally shocked when it unveiled an industrial-looking new identity in early 2017. It’s cold, impersonal, and reflects a design aesthetic from the 1970s.
Wright State University (OH):
After 20 years, WSU revised their cherished logo featuring the Wright brothers and their biplane. The designers tried to simplify it, moving to some sans-serif type, eliminating the shadows, and darkened the colours – but they also eliminated the figure of Wilbur Wright, and added some inexplicable swooshes that made it look like the plane was tumbling out of control.
So to sum up: you can’t please everybody when it comes to a university rebrand. You can expect 20-30% of your stakeholders to express displeasure. If it’s less than 10%, you’re doing really well! If it’s more than 70%, you should probably reconsider the design.
Check out other Ten with Ken episodes about Branding at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLodJ8ParJmYWtpFIkmuPeZ1h2SDI5LI5Y
