The approximately fifteen year old logo of Rosie charging on is soon to be replaced with a new design, intended to freshen Rose’s image as publicity increases.
Sometimes people develop the mentality that if something isn’t broken, you don’t need to change it, and from many people’s perspective on the Rose campus, they may not believe there is anything wrong with the current logo. Recently, though, Dr. Jakubowski has started the initiative of spreading the word about Rose-Hulman which has included assessing the visual identity of the Institute.
Those involved in the initiative found that Rose-Hulman’s logo use is varied and inconsistent. When looking at letter heads and posters, Bryan Taylor, Director of Communications and Marketing, told the Thorn that they believed too much liberty was taken with the logo and even an overuse of the school seal. From this, they set the objective of cohesiveness and consistency with flexibility.
The other objective involved was also to simply modernize the look of Rose-Hulman. The current logo is as old as the name itself, coming from when the school was renamed in 1971. The Rose-Hulman “R” however, is only about 15 years old.
In an effort to develop something that represents Rose as well as possible, a coordinating team consisting of Bryan Taylor, Jim Goecker, Vice President for Enrollment Management, and Mark Lindemood, Vice President of Institutional Advancement was formed.
President Jakubowski then assembled a task force of people from different parts of Rose-Hulman, including Dale Bremmer (Economics), Allen Broughton (Mathematics), Brian Dyer (Alumni Affairs), Erik Hayes (Student Affairs), Jeff Jenkins (Athletics), Brad Kelsheimer (Business Office), J.P. Mellor (Computer Science and Software Engineering), Dan Moore (Graduate Studies), David Purdy (Mechanical Engineering), Dee Reed (Communications and Marketing), Matt Sinclair (SRC), Dan Wells (Administrative Services), Julia Williams (Institutional Research, Planning and Assesment), and Emily Albert (SGA, ’08).
To help with the process, they hired a marketing firm based in Chicago, Lipman Hearne, that specializes in non-profit entities. Before anything was drawn, a brand analysis was performed, with the objective of defining who and what Rose-Hulman is. Most of this information came from input from students, faculty, alumni, corporate recruiters, prospective students and staff about how the school is viewed.
From all this input and investigation of Rose-Hulman, a brand platform was created. The main idea brought up was worded into the phrase “I’ve found my tribe.” The investigation revealed that many students had a “sense of belonging” they may not have had in high school, or from wherever they may have come. From this, a variety of logos were created and then narrowed down and put through a series of revisions.
In continuing their effort to maintain cohesiveness and consistency, the coordinating team’s and task force’s final step will be to assemble a style guide for how to use the logo, such as including the specific color