The College’s logo committee did not consider trademark issues when setting the timetable for releasing the school’s new logo, Vice President of Student Affairs Sam Sadler said.
p. The committee completed their work on the logo and submitted it to College President Gene Nichol in time for him to unveil it at homecoming, as had been their plan all along, only to discover that they first must get the logo trademarked.
p. “It totally escaped us,” Sadler said. “We were intent on doing our thing and getting it to the president before homecoming and we did … I don’t know where our head was, but clearly it was somewhere else.”
p. Sadler said that Nichol told him he was “enthusiastic” about the committee’s recommendation. The artwork for the design was produced for the College, using the logo committee’s ideas and recommendations, by Phoenix Design Works, a New York-based branding and design company.
p. The company has done work for several universities, including the University of Arkansas, Harvard University and Louisiana State University, and also several professional sports teams, including Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins.
p. The committee is now turning their focus to coming up with a mascot for the school. Sadler estimates that he has received mascot suggestions from around 150 people so far.
p. Sadler said that there is neither a timetable nor a process in place yet for the selection of the new mascot, but that they likely will once again employ professional help to handle the design aspects.
p. The committee is ready to come up with a mascot despite not having a team name that correlates directly to one. Sadler cited the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill as an example of a school that has a mascot (a ram) different from that of their team name (the Tar Heels).
p. “We’ll play the hand we’ve been dealt,” Sadler said.
p. Sadler said that he does not know when the logo will be ready to be unveiled, although he’s hopeful that it can be ready “within the next few weeks.” He said he believes that it was better to hold off on releasing the logo until it was properly trademarked.
p. “It’s smart to get it done right,” Sadler said. “And if we have been smarter about that, we could have done it earlier.”
