For those of you who have been holding your breath as you wait to see what the new logo for the College will look like -- it's time to exhale. The 2007 edition of the William and Mary logo was released on Dec. 6, and it may remind you of something you've seen before. That's because it's supposed to. After the NCAA found that the feathered W&M logo could be "hostile and abusive" in a 2006 ruling, the College used this as an opportunity to change the look of a great many things, including the logo.
The new logo was envisioned by a committee of alumni, students and current instructors from the College. Their ideas were handed over to Phoenix Design Works, a firm that had created the logos for numerous collegiate athletic programs, professional sports teams and other top-tier organizations. Phoenix incorporated the direction from the committee into the new design, which is intended to be both a modernization and a reminder of designs from the past.
"It's evolutionary in that the College is a very recognizable entity," said athletic director and committee member Terry Driscoll. "Rather than doing something dramatic, we came up with something more subtle."
Along with a new font, the logo features a new, smaller ampersand designed by Connie Desaulniers '75, a renowned artist in her own right. The traditional College color of gold is again represented in the logo, replacing the yellow in the old feathered version.
The logo may be viewed later as one giant leap into a visual rebranding for the College on many avenues. Another committee is now formulating a College-wide stylebook that will guide the different schools and departments in the proper usage of the versions of the logo. This will ripple through athletics, merchandising and onto the College's new Web site, which will debut in fall 2008. A new College mascot is another topic that will be tackled by the committee.
