Based on the approved roadmap, the Visual Identity Committee has created a website that identifies current, retiring and athletic marks. This website will be updated as the project moves forward. Work will begin soon to create official marks and guidelines will be provided for their use. Stay tuned.
http://www.wm.edu/visualidentity/
Tina Coleman
The Visual Identity Committee took time during the fall semester to regroup after the departure of Susan Evans and focus on regaining the momentum achieved by the Committee last year. Cindy Baker, Associate Director of Creative Services and Carolyn K. Davis, Director of Auxiliary Services, were appointed co-chairs of the Committee.
We held our first meeting on December 5 to assess where we were and how best to move forward. The consensus was to divide the work ahead in two phases. Phase one will be to take the recommendations approved in the Design Roadmap for Visual Identity (pdf) and build a website accordingly. The second phase will be to delve into the first two recommendations concerning a single logo that includes a historic graphic element and wordmark along with further discussion of the use of the coat of arms and cypher. The design subcommittee has been convened to address these issues.
The Visual Identity Committee will continue to keep you posted. Thank you for following us!
Carolyn K. Davis
Visual identity work is moving along. We are fortunate to have many within the William & Mary community who are interested in our work. We have officially completed our current round of focus group testing. Although, I expect we are not done done. Future decisions and recommendations will need an audience testing phase and we’re not likely to be out of practice when it’s time for more focus groups.
Here’s some summary info about the focus groups we used for audience testing:
The next step is to take our tested recommendations to various campus communication committees that meet in June including the College Communications Council, the Communications Working Group, and the President’s Communication Council.
- Susan T. Evans
Over the past several days, I’ve been scheduling small focus group sessions related to the visual identity project. We want to audience test some of the ideas we have included in a design road map for William & Mary. So far, we have 8 more sessions on the books and we’ve invited about 90 to participate.
A few members of the visual identity committee will join me as we facilitate these sessions. Thank you to Kate Slevin, Suzanne Seurattan, and Joel Pattison.
- Susan T. Evans
Last Friday, the visual identity committee held a focus group session at the Law School. Thanks to Jaime Welch-Donahue and Sally Kellam for allocating a bit of time on the busy agenda of the Law School Association board meeting. The visual identity committee has talked a lot about getting feedback from a broad range of stakeholders and this session at the Law School was our first.
We began the focus group meeting by asking the 18 participants (all lawyers!) to complete a nine-question paper survey. We wanted to gauge their initial impressions about several marks currently in use at William & Mary. Providing this list of words, we asked them to indicate what two impressions each mark evoked:
During the next several weeks, we’ll be doing a whole series of these focus groups. We’ll meet with faculty members, students, staff, and more alumni.
- Susan T. Evans
“You can’t buy a legacy of this sort. You have to live it.”
William & Mary President Taylor Reveley
William & Mary celebrated its 318th birthday last month. The second-oldest college in the U.S. is the only American college or university granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms in London. The work of the visual identity committee is characterized by our respect for William & Mary’s most historic marks.
We are especially grateful to the Special Collections Research Center at Swem Library. University Archivist Amy Schindler is a tremendous resource to us. The history of W&M seals and logos is fascinating and I think we all feel grateful that the university is represented by marks of such historical significance.
This 1976 study of the coat of arms (PDF) is great reading for the history-inclined among you.
- Susan T. Evans
During the last meeting of the Visual Identity Committee, we decided to use small focus groups to support our commitment to broadly engaging the campus in our work. Additionally, we would like to use feedback from these small group meetings to test and confirm some of the decisions we are making. Our design subcommittee has done some great work and we’d like the chance to share it more broadly.
I have already contacted the executive committees of several stakeholder groups. We are soliciting names of individuals to include in focus groups from:
We are also planning to put together some alumni focus groups. Several of us on the Visual Identity Committee work with boards and advisory groups whose members include local alumni.
If you are out there reading this blog and would like to participate, say so!
- Susan T. Evans
During the past several weeks, I was the guest speaker at a number of meetings and had the chance to offer an update about the W&M visual identity project. Should I be worried that the topic of fewer logos and marks for William & Mary is apparently not controversial?
Attendance at my campus presentations included a wide range of individuals – staff, administrators, and faculty. I talk about the fact that we have too many logos at William & Mary. I even state that in order to have fewer, we’ll have to retire some. So far, people are nodding in agreement.
Perhaps I owe a debt of gratitude to popular culture. In recent years, there is a better understanding of brand. People seem more aware that a consistent impression about your organization matters. Is this all because so many of us watch Mad Men?
Regardless, I’m relieved. Now, on to the next phase. We’ll be putting together small focus groups with current students and alumni. We plan to use the focus groups to confirm early recommendations about the William & Mary wordmark and logo.
- Susan T. Evans
Today, the W&M News covered the visual identity project, drawing a clear connection between the committee’s work and the university strategic plan.
The piece offers a nice summary of our efforts to date. Thanks, Suzanne.
- Susan T. Evans
The visual identity committee started the new year by taking a vow. We will not design by committee. Sounds simple enough. But in case you aren’t schooled in the ways of creative decision making, read these posts and get yourself up to speed:
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Boagworld: Death to design by committee.
Smashing Magazine: Why design by committee should die.
The Floating Frog: Design by committee: a designer’s worst nightmare!
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Yes, we are reviewing logos and marks used at William & Mary with a goal of recommending a core set of logos and marks for immediate use. After all, wouldn’t it be great to have a website to go to for downloads of recommended logos? Ah, nirvana.
To prevent the design by committee pitfalls, we are relying on the expertise of a small group of professional designers. These individuals will make recommendations to the broader committee.
All members of the visual identity committee are dedicated to our charge from the W&M strategic plan – “to distill a common identity for the university.” But just because we live in houses doesn’t make us architects.
- Susan T. Evans