We just spent almost an hour with Candice Lee and Steve Ertel via Zoom, during which they showed us a short presentation on the logo, how they arrived at decisions and such.
Before I get into what was said, here’s the editorial portion, with a caveat: I think had Vanderbilt communicated things differently at launch, it probably would have been received differently.
Others who were there may have heard it differently, but my key takeaway I got at the end is that the Star-V, the anchor, those things, aren’t going away, and they also showed several mocks of the Star-V (which I think were already out there) that look a lot like the old one.
Candice Lee also said (and this is nearly an exact quote): “We’ll meet coaches where they are… our golf coaches love the anchor. … Clark is partial to the new V and Jerry is partial to that one.”
So the caveat is in the execution. I suspect that if the Star V is still fairly prominent, most of this will fade away and I don’t see this as being a huge issue. It remains to be seen how that plays out.
As for what was said: They didn’t have recording of the presentation and so I had to type notes on the fly. I think this is an accurate representation of what was said and if it isn’t, I would urge someone at Vanderbilt to reach out and let me know because I don’t wish to inaccurately pass something along.
Anyway…
Steve Ertel did the majority of the talking and started with background. He said everything started the first time he met chancellor Daniel Diermeier, who posed a simple question of “When was the last time we sharpened Vanderbilt’s identity?” That conversation was not meant to be specially about the logo and things of that nature but once that conversation went deeper, they “realized they needed to update some things there.”
A lot was said about the philosophies behind why they did what they did, but one thing I did like is a stated effort that they want to communicate confidence and not arrogance. (“Ditch the ego,” was written on a slide.) Ertel noted at one point that, “We are a school… we are also a sports franchise, a non-profit, a research enterprise, a municipality (they have utilities and a police department), they have a hospital, they have real estate. … So how do you create a symbol that works with all these?”
And then Ertel went on to talk about weaving that into “One Vanderbilt” and said that a lot of their inspiration for how they want to brand and represent the school came from athletics. And as they looked around at certain brands and marks, they could tell what people liked and didn’t based in part on where things were. In other words: Would you wear it, or put it on a mug, or display it in your office, or whatever? People didn’t like the acorn—they found that was only used internally—but, they found the Star-V was the most popular of the marks they had, though he did talk about some challenges with that logo and non-uniform angles and a few other things about which he didn't go deep into the weeds over.
Ertel also mentioned once or twice about athletics being “the front porch of the university.”
They also said they found the Star-V lagging its SEC peers in terms of sales but also in terms of how it “owned the space in what he called “the invisible square,” which is basically how much room it filled up.” For instance, they had the 14 SEC logos all together and noted how Tennessee’s “Power T” “owned the space” and their issue with the star was that it owned more of the space than did the V, and it was obvious that was something they liked. As Ertel put it, “The star has owned the space and the V has become secondary.”
So that’s where the “new V” came from. And what they want, is that when people see a “V” is for them to think about Vanderbilt, and the same with the colors of gold that go with it.
Then Ertel talked about the new word mark. They think it evokes history, it’s the serif font, it’s modern and more forward-looking. It looks like it’s chiseled in stone and that’s intentional.
They then talked about how that translated to athletics. Clark Lea and Tim Corbin use the Block-V for that reason and there are a lot of options to use it with the star.
We then had time to ask some questions, here they were with answers:
They were asked about their response to criticism
They don’t care about the symbolism, they want a logo that looks good and is aesthetically pleasing
To the criticism is that it was “overthought:”
They hope the presentation shows that the thought shows the intentionality
Strong reactions are a good thing; when something he’s passionate about changes a logo, that shows passion and connection, which is why it’s extra hard for schools to do this
If feedback had been neutral and complacent, they’d be concerned.
The marks change but the school does not and who they are doesn’t change
Over time, people embrace things that communicate they’re part of something
They tested this over many demographics groups (deans, coaches, etc.)
People have different opinions about design which they understand
Asked about last logo refresh (which Candice Lee had reference), that there have been titles won with those logos; does that have meaning that championship programs are associated with it? Also asked about students and community members not being consulted, who did they consult? And is the logo change definite or flexible?
Went into the background again and then talked about they were doing a website redesign and that was part of this.
Asked about current marks, what people liked and didn’t, and what they wanted expressed in future marks
They met with the Black & Gold club and Fan Council and solicited their opinions too
So it was a collection of several different conversations
This is board-approved
The system is flexible
“That V needs to be uniform and work in a lot of different capacities.”
The Vs they used in athletics weren’t aligned always even if they looked like it.
How did they arrive at the shade of gold?
They refined the color Pallette
Gold is tough to work with
Nike only has certain golds
So they are sort of limited
But it’s close to what they’re using
Will be different for metallic, etc.
They tried to use the print gold on the website and that doesn’t work so you have to have a digital version
The athletics gold and athletics V are a little different
Before I get into what was said, here’s the editorial portion, with a caveat: I think had Vanderbilt communicated things differently at launch, it probably would have been received differently.
Others who were there may have heard it differently, but my key takeaway I got at the end is that the Star-V, the anchor, those things, aren’t going away, and they also showed several mocks of the Star-V (which I think were already out there) that look a lot like the old one.
Candice Lee also said (and this is nearly an exact quote): “We’ll meet coaches where they are… our golf coaches love the anchor. … Clark is partial to the new V and Jerry is partial to that one.”
So the caveat is in the execution. I suspect that if the Star V is still fairly prominent, most of this will fade away and I don’t see this as being a huge issue. It remains to be seen how that plays out.
As for what was said: They didn’t have recording of the presentation and so I had to type notes on the fly. I think this is an accurate representation of what was said and if it isn’t, I would urge someone at Vanderbilt to reach out and let me know because I don’t wish to inaccurately pass something along.
Anyway…
Steve Ertel did the majority of the talking and started with background. He said everything started the first time he met chancellor Daniel Diermeier, who posed a simple question of “When was the last time we sharpened Vanderbilt’s identity?” That conversation was not meant to be specially about the logo and things of that nature but once that conversation went deeper, they “realized they needed to update some things there.”
A lot was said about the philosophies behind why they did what they did, but one thing I did like is a stated effort that they want to communicate confidence and not arrogance. (“Ditch the ego,” was written on a slide.) Ertel noted at one point that, “We are a school… we are also a sports franchise, a non-profit, a research enterprise, a municipality (they have utilities and a police department), they have a hospital, they have real estate. … So how do you create a symbol that works with all these?”
And then Ertel went on to talk about weaving that into “One Vanderbilt” and said that a lot of their inspiration for how they want to brand and represent the school came from athletics. And as they looked around at certain brands and marks, they could tell what people liked and didn’t based in part on where things were. In other words: Would you wear it, or put it on a mug, or display it in your office, or whatever? People didn’t like the acorn—they found that was only used internally—but, they found the Star-V was the most popular of the marks they had, though he did talk about some challenges with that logo and non-uniform angles and a few other things about which he didn't go deep into the weeds over.
Ertel also mentioned once or twice about athletics being “the front porch of the university.”
They also said they found the Star-V lagging its SEC peers in terms of sales but also in terms of how it “owned the space in what he called “the invisible square,” which is basically how much room it filled up.” For instance, they had the 14 SEC logos all together and noted how Tennessee’s “Power T” “owned the space” and their issue with the star was that it owned more of the space than did the V, and it was obvious that was something they liked. As Ertel put it, “The star has owned the space and the V has become secondary.”
So that’s where the “new V” came from. And what they want, is that when people see a “V” is for them to think about Vanderbilt, and the same with the colors of gold that go with it.
Then Ertel talked about the new word mark. They think it evokes history, it’s the serif font, it’s modern and more forward-looking. It looks like it’s chiseled in stone and that’s intentional.
They then talked about how that translated to athletics. Clark Lea and Tim Corbin use the Block-V for that reason and there are a lot of options to use it with the star.
We then had time to ask some questions, here they were with answers:
They were asked about their response to criticism
They don’t care about the symbolism, they want a logo that looks good and is aesthetically pleasing
To the criticism is that it was “overthought:”
They hope the presentation shows that the thought shows the intentionality
Strong reactions are a good thing; when something he’s passionate about changes a logo, that shows passion and connection, which is why it’s extra hard for schools to do this
If feedback had been neutral and complacent, they’d be concerned.
The marks change but the school does not and who they are doesn’t change
Over time, people embrace things that communicate they’re part of something
They tested this over many demographics groups (deans, coaches, etc.)
People have different opinions about design which they understand
Asked about last logo refresh (which Candice Lee had reference), that there have been titles won with those logos; does that have meaning that championship programs are associated with it? Also asked about students and community members not being consulted, who did they consult? And is the logo change definite or flexible?
Went into the background again and then talked about they were doing a website redesign and that was part of this.
Asked about current marks, what people liked and didn’t, and what they wanted expressed in future marks
They met with the Black & Gold club and Fan Council and solicited their opinions too
So it was a collection of several different conversations
This is board-approved
The system is flexible
“That V needs to be uniform and work in a lot of different capacities.”
The Vs they used in athletics weren’t aligned always even if they looked like it.
How did they arrive at the shade of gold?
They refined the color Pallette
Gold is tough to work with
Nike only has certain golds
So they are sort of limited
But it’s close to what they’re using
Will be different for metallic, etc.
They tried to use the print gold on the website and that doesn’t work so you have to have a digital version
The athletics gold and athletics V are a little different
