Jan. 15, 2002
Brand Loyal
GW Set to Unveil Bold New Identity Package
By Thomas Kohout
The George Washington University is set to unveil
a new, unified identity package later this spring based on George Washingtons
powerful name and visual recognition. The new logo and design materials,
to be phased in this spring, will establish a consistent brand identity
that unites GWs diverse campuses, schools, and programs, while
reinforcing the Universitys name and reputation.
This branding program will enable The George
Washington University to speak with one distinctive voice visually while
maintaining the important individuality of the various entities comprising
the institution, says Vice President for Communications Michael
Freedman. We wanted a visual image that speaks to the dramatic
progress GW has made in terms of academic excellence and research, and
as one of the worlds truly beautiful urban campuses. We consulted
with virtually every constituency within the University community over
a nearly three-year period and this has resulted in a visual image package
that is classy, clean, distinctive, and flexible.
One of the greatest challenges in developing the new
word mark was to capitalize on the image of George Washington and then
merge that image with the words. The Universitys long-standing
word mark contains no image. Sandy Holland, assistant vice president
for special projects who headed the redesign efforts, and GW Graphic
Design Director Kelly Livezey, who played a key role in the production
of the new package, saw this as a tremendous opportunity. With one of
the most recognizable visual symbols in the United States, let alone
the world, as the Universitys namesake it only made sense that
Washingtons image should be incorporated into the new branding
system.
Its a natural fit to use a George Washington
image, says Livezey, especially with the number of schools
across the country being called either George or Washington-something.
The bonus is that GW owns a particularly attractive and unique painting
of Washington by Rembrandt Peale, a very well-regarded portrait by a
highly respected artist from the 19th century.
The GW community may choose from four basic designs
of the logo. The primary logo whats being referred to as
the portrait word mark has both a vertical and horizontal version
incorporating the Peale portrait of Washington with typography based
on Italian chancery forms. In addition to the portrait word mark, there
are several other alternatives including a single line version and a
GW monogram intended to be used in special instances for merchandise
such as pens, caps, mugs, or signage. Word marks incorporating one-,
two-, three-, and four-colors are available, dramatically expanding
the potential variety available to University users.
The way its set up, it has a very formal
look to it, explains Livezey. I also think the cleanliness
of it, in terms of the way things are spaced out and arranged, makes
it very legible, makes it easily reproducible, gives it a freshness.
Its a new way of looking at type.
All of GWs campuses, as well as the GW Hospital
and each of the Universitys colleges have their own customized
version of the mark. In addition, a complete stationery package will
be available, as well as new official buff (PMS 873 metallic gold) and
blue (PMS 302) Pantone color designations. To help the campus community
adjust to the new system, a comprehensive graphics standards manual
is currently in development and will be available this semester to help
guide those responsible for the various departmental print materials.
Well have many, many options in the manual,
and we will be giving people guidelines for how to apply these marks
successfully, says Livezey. She adds that beyond defining how
to use the new materials, following the guidelines laid out in the manual
promises to guarantee successful publishing results.
What we are really interested in, more than
anything, is that this is successful, Livezey says. Were
not trying to dictate to people, on some whim, how to use this. We are
really interested in the identity being maintained through consistency
and through successful reproduction.
Who are the first people who need to change over?
According to Holland, that question needs to be addressed on a case-by-case
basis. However, its safe to assume that anyone producing materials
with a long shelf life, of say more than a year, who currently is heading
into their regular production cycle should contact GW Graphic Design
at 202/496-6220 or E-mail them at graphics@gwu.edu
to get the new marks. Those departments whose publications or materials
have a shorter shelf-life have more flexibility. The University community
is strongly urged to use up all existing stationery before contacting
GW Graphic Design for materials. No school, department, or program should
throw away any unused stationery, or reprint publications, simply to
switch to the new identity.
They dont have to throw them out after
they read this in ByGeorge!, says Holland. She explains that people
are encouraged to use up their stocks of whatever supplies they have.
The arrival of fall marks the full implementation of the new identity.
The project to unify GWs brand identity began
about two and a half years ago in a meeting between President Trachtenberg
and staff. The president was reviewing samples of publications and materials
produced by GW Graphic Design. According to Holland, one particular
set of materials pushed the president to seek a change.
Look at this, Holland recalls President
Trachtenberg telling her. These are all very nice, but why dont
they look anything like each other? Each one, creative as it may be,
looks like it could have come from any place. Thats contrary
to all of the corporate and University branding theories that
you have to be easily recognized.
President Trachtenberg asked Holland to explore how
the University could establish a strong, more consistent brand image.
Holland drew from her experiences from the last redesign in 1988 that
resulted in the current University logo. She says in that process, a
very small group of people got together and made the decisions. What
I mainly learned was to try to get everybody across campus who might
be interested in being involved, participating as early as possible.
Holland brought in an outside consultant to meet with
people around the University community to see how they would feel about
changing logos and trying to do things in a more unified way. After
receiving favorable recommendations, Mel Farman, who had worked on various
branding projects for corporations and entities such as the National
Art Gallery and the Treasury Department, was chosen to conduct the interviews
and help establish the new identity. He spoke to more than 40 people
from around the University, including all of the vice presidents and
deans, as well as many of GWs communications professionals.
Local design firm Concept Foundry, which has a long-standing
relationship with the University as the GW Magazine designer, was selected
to translate Farmans recommendations into the new marks. The firms
familiarity with GW, as well as its relationship with GW Graphic Design,
made it the right choice as the primary design firm charged with developing
the materials, Holland says.
Once the initial marks were developed, the project
was turned over to GW Graphic Design for the final fine-tuning of the
system for the individual schools and campuses. GW Graphic Design, the
Universitys in-house design studio, is charged with maintaining
the master sets of all of the logos, as well as providing the stationery
package.
We absolutely expect that we will have a transition
period, requiring some further fine-tuning, says Livezey. At
its outset, we are really excited about the flexibility built into this
system. Weve gone from having one mark to having an incredible
number of options once you take into account color and configuration.
All that being said, Livezey believes its important
for the University community to understand why GW needs to have an institutional
identity and they need to be patient during the transition period.
One of the purposes of the branding is the uniformity
it allows for the prestige of one entity to reinforce another.
Most gratifying, so far, is the overwhelming
positive response to the new visual image, says Freedman. Were
tackling a challenge faced by nearly all universities and we believe
weve come up with a winning formula, in part because we remain
fluid and want to work with everyone so they can achieve a comfort level
with the package. So far, so good.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu