Comments on: Logo New(s) 2

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:21:32 +0000

I graduated from KU with a degree in Visual Communications – Graphic Design, and when I saw the new logo I was pretty annoyed. One, they paid $80,000 for a new identity to a company in New York, and two, they got ripped off by a design firm that obviously had some Kutztown grads.
Kansas has an amazing design program, as does Kutztown, and they shouldn’t have gone out of house.

I worked with a Kutztown graduate at my current job when the logo came out and she pointed it out to me. I tried to make a big deal out of it a couple years ago. I’ve since gotten over it.

By: Business Woman

Business Woman — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 00:29:11 +0000

I think it’s following the leader policy. And if they care about the image they should have better thin of the consequenses.

By: Design Dump

Design Dump — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 04:51:32 +0000

I love these logo posts. It's amazing how many logos look similar these days. I guess the old saying holds true that everything has been done before. It's just how we can munipulate it and make it better. The KU is so obvious, I would never have gone with that. Regardless of popularity or location. Their both colleges for crying out loud. One image google search probably would have picked that up. For more great history about logos check out the book by Per Mollerup called - Marks of excellence. It's awesome. You can read more about it at DesignDump.com Review Design Books

By: clinton carlson

clinton carlson — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 23:41:43 +0000

I don’t think we’re debating whether or not the KU logos are similar. That’s pretty hard to miss.

By: JacksonRae

JacksonRae — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 23:00:59 +0000

I actually checked out Kutztown as an undergrad and ironically enough their design program is certainly prided as one of the best in at least Pennsylvania if not extending further. Regardless, it really doesn’t matter if you’ve heard about them or not, that holds no weight. The designs are similar. Period.

By: Bennett

Bennett — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 22:09:46 +0000

I assume the purple tab is part of the website design. I haven’t seen the logo by itself, just on the website and the picture of the sign on the website (also on the purple background). I do like the pronunciation meaning in the Landor logo. I assume the Cadence bank rectangles are derived from the “E” directly above it. Looking through Monigle’s identity portfolio, it is not their best.

JonSel, I’m in the same boat as you as far as the Olympic logo. I’m not sure what the history of the “environmental” logo is. Maybe someone can help me out on this one.

By: clinton carlson

clinton carlson — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 00:21:30 +0000

I’d say KU is regionally known. Personally, I’ve never heard of Kutztown, but I’ve spent my whole life in the Midwest, Northwest and now western Canada. And would be suprised if Kutztown appeared very regularly in (1) March Madness, (2) the College World Series, or (3) a major football bowl game. Which, for better or worse, is where many schools gain much of their national recognition to the general public. It may be that KU uses “KU” because the University of Kentucky uses “UK”. But, DC1974 highlights what is an interesting regional/cultural dilemma for universities. For instance the university of Washington is well known as the “UW” or just “U-dub” on much of the west coast, but what about Washington University of St. Louis? Are they “dub-U”? Wouldn’t KU be better off to reinforce “Kansas University” for an easier recognition among a broader audience?

I think the retaining of the gold in the Visa identity is important, whether or not it had to be a part of the logo itself could be debated.

By: JonSel

JonSel — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:32:46 +0000

Is the purple rectangle with the centered tab part of the logo, or just part of the website design staging? It’s all very generic anyway. Incidentally, the Cadence mark from Landor placed the horizontal macron over the ‘a’ to emphasize proper pronunciation of the word. The old Westvaco mark was similar, in that it had a macron over the ‘a’, so you would pronounce it as “West-Vay-Co” and not “West-Vah-Co”.

The Visa swoosh came long before the Sears swoosh. I think Visa could have lost the swoosh and just maintained the typography. I guess they felt they had enough equity in both colors that they needed to maintain them both somehow, resulting in a weird letter V.

What is the origin of an Olympic environmental logo? Did all previous games have this? Am I correct that this doesn’t replace the Beijing 2008 red chop mark?

By: Bennett

Bennett — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 18:35:39 +0000

Kutztown maybe more well known on the East Coast, but I doubt that is true for the entire country. Kansas has long been called KU, hence the trademark more than a half a century ago. Kansas being a very large, division one school also makes the case that it is much more well know. I realize not everything revolves around sports in college, but the non-academic world's primary interaction with colleges is through their sports teams. If you have every watched March Madness you would most definitely heard the University of Kansas referred to as KU. Refer to their sports logo to see the proof.

By: DC1974

DC1974 — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 17:58:11 +0000

Well as someone that got into KU (in Kansas) but ended up going to school on the East Coast. I can tell you that Kutztown as KU is not only more well known but also a little bit more understandable. No one ever thought the University of Kansas would be KU and it’s not something that is obvious to people outside of the midwest. (Although, the reverse is true with U.Va. and U.Md. not really making a lot of sense to people back home in Chicago either.)