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New
U.Va. logo debuts
Staff
Report
For
the past 20 years, the University has seen a proliferation of
school, center and departmental logos. An informal survey recently
found 55 different logos in use across Grounds, featuring more
than a half dozen versions of the Rotunda.
James
Bell, partner in a New York image management firm and University
alumnus, said the University’s situation was not unprecedented
in higher education, but neither was it uncommon for a university
to adopt a single primary “mark.” He recommended the
creation of a logo to graphically unify the University.
At
his State of the University Address April 18, President
John T. Casteen III was to introduce a new University logo
that pairs a contemporary rendering of the Rotunda with a reinterpretation
of an 18th-century typeface called Caslon – the typeface
that was used to set the first printed edition of the Declaration
of Independence.
“The
results blend a 21st-century outlook with a firm grounding in
Jeffersonian tradition,” said Robert D. Sweeney, senior vice
president for development and public affairs.
The
effort to create that single logo was the result of a yearlong
discussion on the University’s identity, begun by Sweeney
as part of his newly expanded role that includes oversight of
the University Relations office. Through meetings with hundreds
of University alumni, faculty, students and staff, Sweeney and
an ad hoc committee developed a definition of the University that
took into account Jefferson’s founding vision that this university
link education and democracy in a uniquely American way. The logo
is a modern interpretation of that vision.
The
new rendering of the Rotunda, done by Charlottesville graphic
designer and University alumnus Jim Gibson, is based on Jefferson’s
own drawing, in which he dotted into the square building a perfect
sphere that is a continuation of the Rotunda roof line. This adaptation
uses the 13 stars from the original American flag to signify Jefferson’s
intention to create a national university to inspire generations
of leaders that would follow his own.
Details
on the logo implementation plan will be forthcoming.
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