By Delaney Runge
Copy Editor
Say goodbye to the days of George Washington’s signature as the main College’s marker; a new logo is in for Washington College.
In an email sent on March 6, Vice President for Marketing and Communications Brian Speer informed the College community that a new logo would begin to be used.
“In the coming weeks we will be rolling out a new logo and visual identity system for Washington College,” the email said. “The Office of Marketing and Communications will begin using the new Washington College mark on publications and update the website during March.”
According to Speer, the former College logo, which includes Washington’s signature atop the name “Washington College” in a red box, presented a few problems, and these ultimately contributed to the need for an update. He said that cursive writing is often not taught in schools, making the current logo inaccessible to some prospective students. Also, when reducing the logo for various purposes, it would become illegible.
The new logo contains a font meant to be more readable and “allows us to create a timeless mark that speaks to our history and place as a top liberal arts college,” Speer said.
The new font is paired with a shield emblem taken from the College seal.
“The idea of incorporating the shield grew out of a rework of the College seal,” Speer said. “According to the historical artifacts I had access to, the shield, which is an interpretation of the Washington family coat of arms, has been a part of the College seal as far back as our archives can verify.”
With this new branding, the communications team held two open sessions on Thursday, March 7 and Wednesday, March 20 to go over the new logo and the reasoning behind it.
Junior Katie Opielski attended one of the initial sessions to learn about the new logo. After seeing the design, she felt that it did not represent WC as she knows it.
“I think it makes us look a little bit like a military academy,” Opielski said. “It looks kind of similar to some of the Washington D.C. logos of those schools [and] we are not an urban campus by any means.”
Senior Joshua Torrence feels that this new logo speaks to the way the world is moving.
“I feel like it’s a part of the much larger trend to simplify things,” Torrence said. “Not that a logo should be exciting, but it doesn’t bring anything new, anything interesting to the table.”
According to Speer, no specific focus groups or means of feedback were used for this new logo.
“As part of outreach about the College’s marketing and communications over my first year at Washington, we have had numerous conversations with students, faculty, and staff to get their impressions of the materials produced and the ways in which the College is represented,” Speer said. “In many of these conversations, community members expressed dislike for the old logo. This expression, along with a review of the effectiveness of our materials and messaging led us to explore a new logo and visual identity for the College.”
Opielski felt that if the team had sought out feedback then the logo would be different.
“I don’t think that’s the conclusion of the logo they would have come to if there was student involvement, community involvement, [or] any involvement,” Opielski said. “I think the logo would have ended up being something completely different and more reflective of the current student body.”
Torrence admits that it was likely time for a new logo due to the school going through its own changes because of the pandemic and other school culture developments.
“The school has gone through an insane amount of change in the past since COVID, I would say even since like just since 2019,” Torrence said. “Because of the amount of changes that are happening I think that necessitates a new logo, but not this one.”
Graphic courtesy of Brian Speer
Photo Caption: New logo of Washington College.