March 19,
2007
University moves closer to new logo design
Once there were hundreds. This spring there will be
only one—the University’s new logo.
This marks the first step in an overall initiative to
develop a new graphic identity. The project is led by Bill Murphy, vice
president for communications, and guided by the results of an external
review commissioned by President Seligman to examine the University’s
overall communications efforts.
For the past year, Murphy has collaborated with a group
of University faculty and staff that includes public relations and
marketing specialists, writers, and graphic designers to develop and
fine-tune an initial set of logos. He also gathered input from faculty,
staff, students, alumni, senior administration, and the Board of Trustees
through a series of presentations.
Currently, five designs remain, and the University
community is invited to offer input through on online survey at
www.rochester.edu/publications/identity. Murphy is hopeful that a final
decision will be made in April and that a set of graphic standards will
soon follow. He says the ultimate goal is to arrive at a logo that people
across the University will use and a process that will encourage them to
adopt it wholeheartedly.
“We began by bringing together a representative
group and doing our homework,” says Murphy. “We looked at past
expressions of the University’s name in typography and in carvings on
buildings, at icons the University has used, and at what our peer
institutions are doing. We didn’t want to be slavishly imitative but
it was helpful to get a sense of whether there was any commonality to that
group.”
A team of University graphic designers used that
information as the inspiration for an initial set of concepts that ranged
from contemporary to traditional.
Murphy says his past experience has shown that it is
important to have people react to concrete visuals as a way to begin a
dialogue and identify the essential components.
It was clear throughout the process, adds Murphy, a set
of themes was emerging based on feedback from faculty, staff, and students.
“The University community really wanted a sense
of belonging, of fitting in with our peer institutions. They clearly wanted
something that was classic rather than wildly innovative. They wanted
something traditional and evocative of a world-class research
institution.”
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