The administration unveiled a new graphic identity this month and officials hope the look becomes synonymous with success, tradition, innovation, and the University of Washington.
The central administration officially introduced a new look for the three-campus University of Washington system on Dec. 2. The new logo, which is anchored by an abstraction of the familiar columns, will replace the UW that has been used since the late 1980s. It’s part of a communication strategy that was initiated under former President Richard L. McCormick.
Specifically, the signature identity is intended to show respect for the institution’s long and rich tradition while also showcasing the UW’s new reality as a dynamic institution with a national and international reach. Therefore it was important the new look distinguish this UW from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Wyoming, for example.
“One goal was to build an identity that would make us readily recognizable to a broad audience as Washington and not some other UW,” according to Harry Hayward, the director of strategic communications for University Relations.
Other goals were to create an identity that could serve all three campuses and to emphasize the color purple. But more importantly the new identity, Hayward says, speaks to the public’s connection with the University.
Vice President for University Relations Jack Faris, while pleased with the new look, cautions that a graphic identity can only do so much.
“My attitude is that there’s value in doing this, but no one ever solved a communication problem by creating a new graphic identity. That said, I do think the design team did an outstanding job in creating a visual identity that will serve the University very well.”
The column is the most distinct feature of the new identity and it ties into a powerful symbol that members of the UW community can easily relate too. The columns come from the porch of the Territorial University Building, constructed in 1861 in what is now downtown Seattle. They were removed when the building was torn down and stored until 1911 when they were moved to the current campus. The columns have stood in Sylvan Theatre since 1921 and are all that remains of the University’s first building.
The type is another important element of the identity. The words “University of” are in a modern, sans-serif font — GilSans. The word “Washington” is in the more traditional Goudy. Together the typefaces represent both the institution’s long-standing tradition of excellence and its focus on innovation in the classroom, laboratory and throughout the community.
Another important feature of the visual identity, Hayward points out, is that it was designed with the end users in mind.
“What’s perhaps most important about the design is not the single signature itself, but the fact that this is the first time that there’s been a system of design,” he said. “If you’re a school or a program or a college or just somebody writing a newsletter, you can look at this system of design and it can give you answers. It’s something that, wherever you are in the University, you can affiliate your program with. It’s flexible, but it also gives you a chance to really refresh your own publication.”
Individual departments and units won’t be told they have to use the new logo, especially those with their own visual identity programs. But they will be encouraged to adopt the new program absent their own, according to Hayward.
“This is a place that values the freedom of thought and values entrepreneurship at the unit level,” he said. “So to rigidly impose a system of design simply is to take away a lot of that spirit. We want to provide an opportunity for a design that’s cool and that appeals to people and one they want to adopt, we hope with some enthusiasm.”
In fact, established visual identities that are easily identifiable in the community, like the Business School, for example, will continue to be used, Hayward said. “We want this new signature to be used in concert with those, so that they don’t oppose each other. We’ve provided some ways in the identity standards that the two can live simultaneously.”
The identity standards can be found on the University Relations Web site, www.washington.edu/univrel/.