Unless something new comes up, I'll likely give MUN ranting a rest for a few days. I actually have a backlog of other things I want to chat about, but I've been getting wrapped up in this MUN logo thing. So a few points...
1. Skylarkd is actually keeping track of blog entries and comments regarding MUN's new logo and the controversy over dropping Newfoundland. Worth taking a look at if you're interested on what others are saying.
2. One of those links is to The Muse. It's interesting to see that most of the racket on campus is on whether or not the logo is attractive rather than on the matter of dropping Newfoundland from it. Also worth noting that the advertising guys picked up on the Alberta reference apparently before Liam. I think that makes things worse, actually. The Muse also does an an editorial in which they're not enthralled by the logo, but really hate the new slogan - "Become."
Which, you have to admit, quite possibly sucks harder than the logo.
(As a sidenote, I'm going to rush the Muse office one of these days and beat the editorial staff blue until they finally goddamn realize that editorials do not have "I", "Me", "Mine", etc. That's what's known as a column, kids. It's isn't an editorial.)
3. My insane traffic rush has mutated from Liberals into MUN alumni, apparently. I'm still at about double normal levels.
And I was wondering when they were going to get here - a special "Hi!" to University Relations. David, drop me a line sometime and we can commiserate about life on the other side of the media fence.
4. This thought hit me today...the old MUN clothing line is going to be phased out this summer. Time to send Cathy onto campus when she goes home in a couple of weeks and get some MUN clothing while it lasts.
3 comments:
I know one of the people in the bookstore - she said that the MUN stuff is there to stay. She said they never sell the old stuff with the crest on it anyway, surprise, surprise. But there will be (already is?) some stuff with the new logo. Everything I read says this is just a logo, and that MUN is still MUN, and that like the logo or not (it's growing on me) it's just a logo.
I like the new logo, and approve of dropping the Newfoundland (and no, I don't work at MUN's PR dept). As someone who works in communications, I know how difficult it is for institutions like Memorial to change. I am amazed and delighted that they have actually done something bold, with a bit of "vision" to boot. Anyone who has worked as a writer will agree that tacking "Newfoundland and Labrador" onto everything is a pain in the arse; the written equivalent of a speed bump. The only people who seem upset by it are former students; the rest of us seem quite capable of getting past it. You don't do memorable marketing without taking some risk, so the fact that some people are complaining is a good thing.
It doesn't seem to be just a logo though...
The Research Report is the first publication with the new branding, and in addition to the new logo, references to the university in the text are “Memorial University” - even the copyright notice on the bottom of the page.
http://www.mun.ca/research/2006report/
If it's a case of short logo-long name, then it seems strange that the official name of the university isn’t used in the articles.
The University of New Brunswick has UNB in their logo, but the official (long) name of the university is still used in their marketing materials.
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