Ohio State spends $45K on logo, seal changes
Published: Sunday, February 10, 2013
Updated: Monday, February 11, 2013 15:02
 "Photo: N/A")
OSU spent $7,700 on design refinement and another $37,500 on research of the new athletic logo, academic logo and university seal it released to the public on Feb. 4.
Ohio State spent $7,700 on design refinement and another $37,500 on qualitative and quantitative research of the new athletic logo, academic logo and university seal it released to the public on Feb. 4, said Jacquie Aberegg, assistant vice president of OSU marketing, in an email.
While the Block “O” has been part of the OSU athletic department’s logo for decades, the words “Ohio State” on the department’s logo will now be all black instead of black and white.
Aberegg said it is important the Block “O” continue to be the mark of OSU varsity sports teams and merchandise.
The academic logo has also been changed to a Block “O” with the words “The Ohio State University” to the right of it.
“The (new) design retains its national recognition and familiarity, while strengthening the presence of the ‘Ohio State’ name to support future marketing applications,” Aberegg said.
However, some OSU students think the new athletic logo is too bold.
“I would have to agree with a lot of other people that I don’t like it as much at all,” said Matthew Ferry, a second-year in biology. “I think having the white spaces in between (the letters) outlined them better.”
The Block “O” will take the place of the pre-existing round “O” on OSU’s university seal, which is mostly seen on diplomas and official university documents.
OSU’s mission with the changes was to give the school one notable identity and to create a symbol that gives the best representation of academics and athletics, Aberegg said.
“We engaged hundreds of students, staff, faculty, alumni, friends and Ohioans to ensure the new identity would carry the depth and breadth of the institution,” Aberegg said in the email. “Unifying the university’s areas of excellence under a common identity system — with the iconic Block ‘O’ as the common element — amplifies the strength of our institution.”
Aberegg said the university greatly reduced the cost of the update by using the expertise of faculty, staff and alumni to carefully explore the possibilities and implications that are involved in making such a change.
The decision-making process has been taking place for 10 months, but there will still be a few more months until the change is really noticeable, Aberegg said.
“Formal guidelines and updated identity marks will become available in March/April,” Aberegg said. “The update will become visible through some of our larger units beginning in April/May.”
The implementation of the updated visual identity “will be a rolling change over the next 12-18 months,” Aberegg said, and it will be applied “from stationery to online applications to building signage. Identity updates will be incorporated into current workflows and construction plans.”
This story has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: February 11, 2013
An earlier version of the headline for this story said the university spent $45,000 on a new athletic logo. In fact, it spent $45,000 on the university seal, academic logo and athletic logo. The earlier version also stated that the Board of Trustees approved the athletic logo change, but the Board only needed to approve changes to the university seal.
26 comments
I'd like to see more transparency regarding how the school spends money.
Thanks for your whining about our whining. We have now been schooled by the Lord of All Whiners.
T H E
OHIO$TATE
University
is a member of the 
