A conversation with the designers
Serri Graslie
Issue date: 2/17/09 Section: News
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Kelly Christ, Graphic Design Director -to get the inside scoop on the design and implementation processes.
Oracle: How long have you worked at Hamline?
Breanne Hanson Hegg: We've both worked here since August of '01.
When did you start working on the new logo?
BHH: I don't know if it really has a starting point as much as the thought of doing it has been in development for quite a few years-pretty much since the 150th anniversary, where we introduced a new logo just for the year. When the year was done, we had to retire it and people missed it because it had a more visual element and when we went back to our regular one they suddenly saw that it was lacking. So that stayed in people's minds, and then when we did the strategic planning process, one of the things that came out of that was really a call for a stronger, united university under one mission, so it came up again then.
How did you formulate ideas for the new logo?
Kelly Christ: Allie Long, senior graphic designer, and I researched and looked at what we had for years past, looked around at competitors and went to the drawing table and started doing a lot of thumbnails. We came up with many, many ideas and we worked with probably fifteen or twenty of them and the two of us narrowed it down to-by the time we kind of presented to the next group-we had, like, nine. We just sort of whittled down until we decided well, here's the best four; it was really Allie and I that decided, just asking around, to go to the four.
When you talk about narrowing it down, who were you presenting the logos to?
BHH: We started with the big faculty/staff; different groups, departments. And then with the deans of the five schools-because it's for all of Hamline, all five schools-making sure that we were working in a direction that would speak to their students and their school and their experiences. And then when we got closer-got the deans feeling comfortable with the set of options-we brought in some student feedback. We did an online random sample of undergraduate and law students and then we did a focus group of undergraduate students.
When you say random, was it just sent to a few different students or sent to everybody?
BHH: Because we did it during January, we did it from J-Term enrollment and a random sample of students from that.
Was there any outside consultation involved throughout the process?
BHH: Yeah, the billboards that we do, we work with a firm. So we shared the concepts with them and got their feedback to check to make sure independent people in the industry thought we were going in the right direction.
Were those casual or paid consultations?
KC: They weren't paid.
BHH: They're experts in the field so it was a quick, 'that one looks wrong.'
Why did you feel that, at this point in time, Hamline needed a new logo?
BHH: I'd say the strategic plan. It kept coming out that Hamline knows who it is and where it wants to go and you need that sort of information before you can choose what sort of elements you might choose to do a logo.
Who did you get input from in the initial stages?
KC: Because we've been here for a while, we've heard a lot of things because there's a lot of design projects that we work on throughout the university. We definitely went out; we looked beyond different other universities as to what are some of the more popular logos. The ones that have been long-standing for years, decades.
BHH: Logo theory, a lot of research.
Did the final logo have to get approval by anyone, and if so, who?
BHH: The deans and the president and vice-president. And they were really interested in the feedback from students, faculty and staff.
Did you encounter any challenges in the process of designing-creative or otherwise?
KC: I think the biggest challenge for us is that we would have to use it. We would have to apply it. And we have to use it in so many different ways. I guess the other thing is just that it would really be a good logo that would fit for Hamline's needs and would help bring all five of the schools together, and that all five could back it up or be comfortable using it on their publications.
What do you think the old logo "said?"
KC: I don't know that it said anything. It was really a wordmark. It's really letters that are stacked. It's just one font that was brought it and it was kerned. And it's something that anyone could recreate.
In comparison, what would do you think the new logo "says?"
BHH: In our research, one of things we asked for was for people to describe it-not just 'do you like it?' but 'what words does it make you think of?' A lot of the common ones were: energy, celebration, bold, innovation.
KC: But traditional; a new take on tradition. It does reminisce a shield-your basic traditional shield that a lot of colleges do have.
What went into the typeface decisions?
KC: The font is Neutra-we were looking for a newer typeface, something that was a little more modern. So we looked at many sans serif fonts-which is really what the Neutra is-and put them up next to the logo and we tried variations of a font. Because of the way that the logo is with the sharp edges and the rounded edges, we thought it really fit well with being pointy and having the points on the shield. And it's also a font that we can use in a general-type setting.
BHH: We've been using it on a lot of things for years.
KC: It's not brand new for Hamline.
BHH: It's funny, now that we're putting the logo on things people are being like 'oh that looks like the financial aid pieces.'
KC: The font has been used on many publications and invitations and it was just never used this prominently with the logo.
Do you think it's a typeface that has staying power?
KC: I think it does. It's based off of an architect from centuries ago (sic). It's a clean font.
BHH: I think it's a classic; a lot of the common fonts are.
In designing the new logo, how did you avoid falling victim to trends?
KC: That's partly why the logo, the simple logo, is pretty simple.
BHH: In terms of logos, we see this as on a continuum scale. We really didn't push the university too far and get into something that felt too distant from what we had.
Are there any parts of the Hamline brand that are considered classic and can't be changed?
BHH: The academic seal-that's not going anywhere-and the athletic inter-locking "HU."
Why does a university need to be so conscious about a logo? Why is it so important?
BHH: Well, the logo is a lot of people's first impression of the university and when we were putting ours on things next to all other schools, ours said 'common font, stacked;' like we don't want to stand out, like we don't want to think of anything beyond what most everyone does.
KC: And a lot of people didn't notice that the Hamline logo was anywhere. It just got lost in everything else that was on a page or on a billboard or it just looked like text. So unless they read it, they didn't see it.
How much did the whole process of creating the new logo cost?
BHH: We did it with in-house staff so there weren't any additional consulting firm fees or anything like that. It's actually pretty cheap. In terms of the website, that's free. That was designed by our web staff here. We put all the information online; we haven't printed or distributed anything in terms of how to use it. It's our duty to communicate that.
KC: We're not asking for anything to be redone or take the old logo off of anything. It's just as things are new and regenerated, it's added on.
BHH: A lot of things are done on an annual basis so whenever things are up for a reprinting or whatever, we'll just put the new one on.
Do the billboards fall under the same policy?
BHH: Yep. They're only up for a month at a time.
KC: We don't have plans to trash anything or take anything away.
BHH: That was actually one of our goals from the beginning-not to create waste and we've been preparing faculty and staff for a while. They've been warned many times: 'don't order lots of letterhead.'
How long is the transition expected to take?
KC: Well we still (see) things once in a while from thirty or forty years ago.
BHH: I feel like the anniversary (logo) took a year to fully get in and then a year to fully get out. We haven't changed logos for eighteen years so we really don't have a basis for comparison but that would be our guess.
As far as university reaction goes, what have you heard from faculty, staff or students?
BHH: We've heard both really positive and some negative. I'd say the majority we've heard has been positive. People have seemed excited and there's some energy. It certainly takes time to transition to a new logo and we understand that; as people see it more and see it applied on things, maybe it looks different than when you first saw it.
I've heard that some don't like how it looks or they're concerned it cost a lot to design or that it will cost a lot to transition. What would you say to those complaints?
KC: Well we've already talked about the cost. We're not redesigning everything.
BHH: I think that's really typical of anyone who gets a new logo. You like the logo because you like the old whatever it was and you had positive affection for it. If there's this new logo, you have no positive affection for that; that doesn't have any history with you. But then as you get to see it more-and it starts to replace the old one-you start to wonder 'why did it ever look strange to me?'
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