Now You Know

What I've learned in the past three days:

1. Alternate uniforms add buzz to rivalry games.

2. Athletes make school decisions based on how the uniforms look.

3. Sports fans were confused about who "State" was.

4. People had trouble identifying MSU because all of the uniforms didn't match.

5. What the athletes think is the most important.

6. Athletes were lacking a sense of mission or purpose before they got new jerseys.

7. The block-S logo was confusing.

8. "Swagger" comes from a new jersey.

Brand Identity, One More Time

One more set of thoughts on MSU's new "brand identity", probably the last for a while:

1. Here's the press release that has some explanations of program.

2. A quote:

Michigan State University has a rich athletic and academic history. To keep these traditions alive, historically relevant marks that connect to the school and Spartan history have been utilized. Combined with contemporary typography, the new concept creates a cohesive identity program that not only respects the traditions of the university, but looks ahead to the promise of a great future.

That's crap. Historically relevant wasn't a factor, they just picked whatever they liked and came up with some rationale for keeping it.

3. There's a grain of truth in this brand identity stuff, but it's 90% marketing people trying to justify their existence. If an athletic team wants to build an identity, they need to win. The rest is just window dressing.

4. The explanation for bronze: "Symbolically represents strength and integrity, and was used as a material in Spartan armor." Sure, but that doesn't explain why they picked a clashing, totally new color to use in the uniforms. I will blame every single thing that goes wrong this season on that color. Missed a tackle? "Needs more bronze." Bad call? "More bronze."

5. The new font takes "inspiration from Greek architecture and the Spartan ethos of simplicity and strength."


Greek architecture? Whatever, this is about a new font that Nike has a copyright on so no one else can use it.

6. The MSU shield logo they made up sucks. And it's mostly bronze.

7. There's some talk that the all-green jersey may be the alternate. If that's the case, it's incandescently stupid.

8. Haven't seen a good picture of the helmet yet, but apparently there's a stripe, but it's tapered. I'll withhold judgment until I see a better picture, but I don't think that it will work.

9. I'm trying to figure out the over/under on these uniforms. One year? Three years?

10. A little time to get used to these uniforms is not making them any better.

More Brand Identity

I'll probably post more on this later, but when reading the article on the new brand and uniforms in The State News, I was a bit taken aback by this comment regarding the logo controversy from Hollis:

It would have been naïve of me not to take those comments into consideration. But (the MSU community) better be receptive to change because I want to win and I want to win on levels that we haven't before. Sometimes you have to shake the trees to have something like that fall out.

The proposed logo change made me think it was pretty likely that ego was a large part of this rebranding. Now I'm sure Hollis is an arrogant jackass.

New Uniforms

MSU unveiled its new "brand and identity" program today; you can see all the photos here. The basketball uniforms don't look to have changed much, so this is all about the new football uniforms:


A few thoughts:

1. I don't love the new font, but I think I like it on the numbers. It's only okay on the lettering.

2. I miss the all-white uniforms. They really should have these available.

3. I do like the overall design of the green shoulder/white shoulder uniforms. In fact, I drew a concept that was fairly similar back in '03:


4. All of the uniforms should have shoulder numbers.

5. I miss the "State" wordmark.

6. There's green stripes on the side/back of the pants that are pretty lame, but I don't think Nike can make a football uniform without random stripes these days.

7. These are definitely better than the '02 "gladiator" uniforms.

8. Good call on not using green pants.

9. I am afraid that this is going to start MSU on a cycle of changing uniforms every few years. These are nice enough, but not so great that I expect them to be around in ten years.

"Aerographic"

Remember that t-shirt I posted during the MSU logo controversy? It's for sale now at the MSU athletics official online store. The new jerseys are also up, which the Spartans wore for the first time when they beat Michigan on Sunday. I'm not sold on the picture in the mesh portion on the back of the jersey. It gets extra points for having Beaumont Tower worked in to the design, but there's a deduction for the now shelved helmet logo being used.

Victory for MSU

MSU Athletic Director Mark Hollis released a statement today with this key passage:

Our identity and branding process is nearing completion and is on schedule for a complete rollout in April. The elements and applications of the brand design will be unveiled collectively at that time. After careful consideration, we will use the current Spartan logo design, first used in the late 1970s, to build our visual brand identity. Using sound branding principles, the university will continue to register some variations of our Spartan logo in order to ensure that this symbol is well protected and firmly associated with Michigan State University. As an athletic department, we are excited about our branding and identity process. We understand, given the tremendous exposure we bring to the university, that our work is an important part of Michigan State's overall university brand. As we go forward, we will ensure that elements of the athletics visual brand identity align with and support the university brand.

That's good news. I've been hard on Hollis through this controversy, but I'll give him credit for making the right decision in the end, and making sure to respond to the fans. I received this statement in an email reply to my original message which said I'd cancel my season tickets if the logo changed. I don't know how much work that ended up being for who, but it made me feel like my opinion mattered. Now if we could get something like an apology from Izzo this whole thing could fade away.

Patience?

The State News has an editorial up today urging patience. An excerpt:

Before students storm the athletics offices with pitchforks, they should remember there are major elements from this project that have yet to be revealed.

With that being said, if the total package still doesn’t do justice to the Spartan identity when it’s unveiled in all its glory in April, Spartans should feel free to raise holy hell.

I like the "holy hell" part, but the rest is wrong. Here's the original statement from AD Mark Hollis:

The Spartan logo, posted on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site, is a single element of a comprehensive brand and identity project that will be unveiled in April by Michigan State athletics. As in all branding, the power of a single symbol cannot be appreciated or measured outside the context of the total presentation.

My company spent a lot of time last year working on brand and identity. We had a meeting explaining the proper use of corporate logos, appropriate Powerpoint backgrounds, and all sorts of other stuff. Many unique logos were eliminated so that the main corporate logo is the only one used. We were told everything was to be consistent so as not to damage the brand.

So what does this have to do with MSU? You've seen the new logo. If the goal is to make MSU's brand consistent with a "comprehensive brand project" the the new logo and the old logo can't coexist. Using both would undermine the consistency that's supposed to be the whole point. It's much more likely that the block S would also be eliminated and MSU's visual identity would be pared down to the new logo and a new "Michigan State" font. Sparty might even be in jeopardy. Context isn't necessary, there's no acceptable outcome based on what we already know.

Tom Izzo is wrong.

That was hard to type. I didn't expect Izzo to go against his boss in the press conference today, but getting hit with a "shame on you" is too much. His arguments are also weak. Gruff Sparty (a third logo used on merchandise, not uniforms) and changing between the block S and helmet logo on football helmets isn't the same as changing a ubiquitous and beloved logo. Replacing the Greek-influenced "Michigan State" wordmark with the Nike "State" wordmark is closer, but those are only used on basketball uniforms and didn't eliminate either the block S or helmet logo. If you're going to argue for the new logo, you have to make a compelling case for replacing a popular logo with 30+ years of history with a new design. I haven't seen that done yet.

Shame on Tom Izzo.

UPDATE: I like this photo posted on Facebook:

More Logo Opinion

Eric Lacy of the Detroit News has an article up about the logo situation. An excerpt:

To simply put it: This move doesn't make sense.

How does a school's brand become recognizable if it constantly changes over the course of several decades?

By no means is this anything personal against Hollis or any other school officials, but it's a fair question to ask.

I'll disagree on one point: It's personal to me.

Uprising

How do you instantly send thousands of Spartan fans into a rage? Change the venerable (it's been used since at least '77, going by The Helmet Project) Spartan helmet logo:


AD Mark Hollis confirmed the logo yesterday after it was discovered on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website. Hollis says the logo "is a single element of a comprehensive brand and identity project" and that "a single symbol cannot be appreciated or measured outside the context of the total presentation." So far that excuse isn't going over well with the fans. As of right now 9,196 fans have joined the Facebook group JUST DON'T - No new Nike-influenced Spartan helmet and 95% have voted against the new logo in a poll at the State News.

Just how serious is this? I just sent an email to Mr. Hollis explaining that I would not be able to renew my football season tickets if the new logo was adopted. And I meant it. I won't be the only one.

UPDATE: More at Uni Watch. The Facebook group now has 10,387 members.

UPDATE 2: Someone on Facebook uploaded this picture of a t-shirt with the new logo:


I have to admit this t-shirt isn't bad, if it came out without any talk of changing the logo I might even buy it. But if they mess with the logo, no new Nike merchandise for me.

New Logo

The Lions officially unveiled their new logo today, the one that was spoiled almost a month ago. They also showed off new uniforms and logotype. I like the new logo, but the rest? Generic. Boring. If they can't do better than that, just go back to the classic look.

Restore the Roar

Looks like the Detroit Lions may have a new logo for the upcoming season.

I think...

...we need a logo. You know, something like this:


Except without the rampant copyright infringement. Anyone have any ideas?