When votes for a new university logo came in, the Eagle Nation overwhelmingly flocked to FGCU Athletics’ familiar feathered friend.
The new FGCU wordmark
An almost yearlong effort resulted in FGCU’s first logo redesign, replacing the original O-shaped eagle symbol, which lacks visual impact and adaptability in today’s digital media. In its place will be a three-quarters view of FGCU’s ownable Athletics’ eagle head facing forward with bold sans serif letters spelling out FGCU; there will be another version spelling out Florida Gulf Coast University. The new logo was launched with a campus celebration.
“As FGCU continues to evolve, the university needs a logo that captures its youth and vitality, distinguishes it from its peers and competitors, and generates pride and a connection to the university among all members of the FGCU community,” says Alice Wheelwright, associate vice president of University Marketing & Communications. “By incorporating the unique eagle head from Athletics into the university’s institutional mark, FGCU leverages the equity and affinity for this mark in the marketplace.”
The logo redesign committee, composed of representatives from across the university, formed in January 2022. Members worked closely with the marketing and branding firm, Ologie.
After conducting exhaustive research on the university and its brand architecture, including several focus groups of diverse stakeholders, Ologie’s creative team came up with three options. Then constituents affiliated with FGCU were asked to vote. The Regional Economic Research Institute at FGCU conducted the survey.
The new FGCU lettermark
The winner was a strong favorite over the other two options: a green eagle head spiraling into a blue wave and a white eagle head with green eyes and feathers.
However you ranked them, the athletics logo rose to the top. When it came to first-place votes, it garnered 61.5% of the 7,183 votes of current students, alumni, faculty members, staff, the Board of Trustees, the FGCU Foundation Board and the Finance Corporation Board. Logo 2 (green head) gathered 21.1%, while logo 1 (white head) got 17.4% of the vote. Among the words voters used to describe the winner: “clean,” “bold,” “modern” and “appealing.”
The new logo, and accompanying brand architecture, will be phased in through the winter and spring 2023.
Tags: fgcu, florida gulf coast university, new FGCU logo
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