California Lutheran University’s administrators are brainstorming on a possible new logo for the school. The idea isn’t confirmed yet, but it is probable that the proposal will be finalized. A focus group was arranged last week in order to brainstorm the image and option for the new logo.
As far as what the new logo would be, it is still unknown. According to Christie Harper, assistant vice president of university marketing, there are two different directions that the logo design could go in.
“One [direction] has some visuals attached to it, like the sun, an oak leaf, some other things, and one direction that was just type. The type only one was favored mostly in the group,” Harper said.
Some examples of type logos include CSUN’s, Facebook’s or Coca Cola’s logos, which are composed of only letters.
Harper believes that CLU’s current logo doesn’t represent the school’s goal.
“A couple years ago, back in 2011, we did a new brand strategy. We wanted to figure out how we wanted to tell our story and it was this idea of helping people to discover and follow their purpose,” Harper said.
She said that students have seen this around campus in many different ways, but when “the board asked if the logo went along with that brand strategy,” the group decided it didn’t. However, some students disagree.
“I’m not particularly in favor of the logo change, unless we are able to find something that encompasses CLU as well as the current logo. The sunbeam we have now just represents so much of the CLU community: warmth, unity, passion, and it’s in the Alma Mater! I think it makes us unique,” said sophomore Ashlee Bowen, who was at the focus group.
Sophomore Becky Drake said that changing the logo would be a mistake.
“I like [the logo] because the sun is the brightest part of the sky and I’d like to think that our school has some of the brightest students out there,” Drake said.
There are also other objections to the current logo.
“The current logo is really hard to work with. It’s physically very challenging because the type is thin and it overlaps that sun and the graphic of the sun has all of these shades of color.
It just makes it hard to embroider, hard to put on stuff, hard to make smaller, all of those things,” Harper said. “There’s a practical reason to just find a logo that is more flexible for our tactical needs.”
The school’s goal is to have the new logo ready to release before orientation next fall. According to Harper, “this is all still in progress, but our hope is that we will have board of regents’ approval on a new direction in February, at their February meeting, and then we would launch a new logo next fall”.
The athletics logo, however, which is already type that reads “Cal Lutheran”, would not change at all, according to Harper.
Although it is unsure whether this idea will be finished, CLU’s representatives are leaning towards finalizing this new image that would be representing CLU for at least the next few years.
Janella Caravetta
Staff Writer
Published Oct. 9, 2013