Updated

Apparently,

We’ve become brighter, bolder, and more confident, and we refreshed our branding to show it. We also recognised that you, and our students and alumni, overwhelmingly refer to us simply as ‘Solent’. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, that instant recognition and recall are vital.

Hard to argue with that. No messing about - they’ve gone for a super safe Futura-like affair with little angular flourishes, that doesn’t try as hard to be different. Does beg the question if they become more pessimistic and less confident could we expect another interesting variation - I guess not.

Review 2013

I couldn’t see anything in the guidelines explaining what the graphic element of this logo is all about. It looks like a scribbled starburst - perhaps signifying energy and dynamism in that oblique and abstract way that logos often claim to.

It certainly is lively and bold and as such a good a mark as any. More problematic for me is the combination of a Garamond-esque Uppercase ‘Solent’ in between some Gills Sans-ish ‘Southampton’ and “University’. The larger serifed S jars against the clean and confident nature of the rest of the logo. Strangely the uppercase serif seems a timid conservative choice in an otherwise sprightly idea.

Tagged : English , Sans-serif , Red , Typographic , Uppercase , South West

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