Temple University Athletics Owl Logo Rebrand Case Study
Designed by Sara Gingras
Art Direction by Bryan Satalino and Joe Bosack
Creative Brief and Process
This project's goal was to create a new logo for Temple University's athletics logo. My class and I collaborated with Joe Bosack, Founder and Creative Director of Joe Bosack & Co., and our design professor, Bryan Satalino. We initially met with Temple University's Strategic Communication & Management team to understand Temple's athletics brand identity, tone, and goals of the assignment. My class also met with the iconic Stella, our school's real life owl mascot, to understand the anatomy and behavior of an owl in motion.
Temple University Strategic Communications and Management representatives presenting to our class about Temple's Brand Identity and project goals.
Stella the Owl visits the Tyler School of Art + Architecture Graphic Design Department for an anatomy study.
Current Temple Owls Athletics Logo
An important part of the design process for our class was analyzing the current athletics logo. We visited the school store to see how the logo did (or didn't) work on t-shirts, as small embroidered patches, stickers, stitched logos on socks, etc. The school store is where most students will interact with the rebranded logo, so it was important to keep in mind that our designs will have to operate well when placed on collateral. The current logo has multiple colors and shades, harsh outlining, a very 90s looking cartoon design, and is applied in a plethora of lockups. The excess lockups reduces the strength of the brand, so our class determined our designs should function in only one or two variations to maintain consistency. The current owl also is extremely aggressive, which school store workers say turns off many customers who end up just buying shirts with the Temple "T" instead.
Sketches
The initial concepts I had were aiming to achieve an owl's key features that also aligned with Temple's athletic brand identity: fierceness, stealth, power, and poise. Owls are nocturnal creatures, striking their prey with huge talons in the dead of night. I strayed from the typical portrayal of an owl with those large talons on display and focused on creating an expression within the owl's face that evokes the essence of Temple's determined athletes. The diamond shape derives from a speech given by Temple's founder, Russel Conwell, "Acres of Diamonds." This speech inspired many diamond-related titles at the university like Diamond Dollars, the Diamond Club, and Diamond Research Scholars. The speech, and the diamond motif, is deeply engrained in Temple's DNA, making it very important for me to include within the athletics logo.
Initial Redesign Concepts
Inspired by the "Acres of Diamonds" Speech, many of my initial concepts revolved around the diamond shape as the basis of my owl logo. I maintained a geometric style to reflect the straight, evenly spaced lines in the Temple "T." I wanted to make sure that my logo would feel like it lives within the same design family as the Temple "T," since that logo would remain despite the athletics rebrand. I received feedback from my classmates, professor, and Joe, who all pushed me to pursue the geometric diamond shaped owl head.
Joe Bosack (Left), Bryan Satalino (middle) and I reviewing my logo ideas.
Presentations
After a few weeks of logo development, Joe brought his logo concepts to a board of Strategic Communications leaders, the head of the athletics department, and other influential brand managers. This was an informative part of the process because my classmates and I got to sit in on professional design presentations and hear the terminology Joe used to describe design decisions and see how he received feedback from the group.
My class and I attending one of many presentations to Temple's Strat Comm team and Athletics Department Leaders.
My Final Temple University Athletics Logo
The finalized logo contains the same DNA as the Temple "T," with its straight, evenly parallel lines. The geometric shape was developed into a minimalist logo that operates as white on a cherry red background or moves with a cherry red interior to maintain the design on different colored background. My design is an authentically unique perspective on Temple's existing bold and tenacious brand identity.
Patterns
Since the logo is geometric with perfect 45 degree angles on both sides, the shape fits perfectly into an infinite array of patterns. Some patterns even include the Temple "T," solving the issue of many students simply buying Temple gear with the "T" instead of the athletics logo. The patterns allow for a plethora of unique collegiate gear to deck out any proud student from head to toe. Hats, sweatshirts, backpacks, water bottles, signage, you name it, we got it. Temple will no longer just be represented by the "T," but by the fierce athletic owl.
Collateral
It was important for me to design collateral that I would personally wear, not just gear for the athletes. Although the logo is for the athletic departments, it should feel accessible to all students as a unique college logo that's worth flaunting on campus. Because of the variety of patterns, collateral can be ever-changing and growing to fit the design trends of the school year. The connective DNA of those perfectly spaced parallel lines evokes Temple's original "T" logo, making it feel related to the brand identity even without the presence of the "T."
Disclaimer: This work was not chosen as the official Temple Athletics Logo and exists solely as a fictional logo redesign.
