msuCatalyst →

On Janurary 21, Mark Hollis unveiled a new Spartan logo that is the first step in a plan to rebrand Michigan State athletics. While he probably expected his announcement to receive criticism, he probably didn’t expect the severe backlash of student support for the old logo. With any controversial issue, there are two sides of the story. This new logo—and the additional aspects of the rebranding campaign—are the result of considerable time, money, and research. Resources that MSU would not invest without certainty of a return on investment. At the same time, MSU students and alumni are proud of their logo and don’t want to change something so close to their hearts.

MSU student, Randel Tomina submitted an article to the msuCatalyst with his viewpoints on the topic. While this does not necessarily represent the views of msuCatalyst, we felt it was a good example of an articulate and thought-out viewpoint of the situation. 

The New Logo Won't Accomplish its Proposed Goals

By Randel Tomina

Unity. Consistency. Recognition.

New Logo on the Right (image from Freep.com)

With the unveiling of a new logo, the Michigan State University athletic department seeks to make these thoughts a reality in regards to the University's identity crisis. It’s a somewhat serious issue. What is Michigan State’s logo? Is it the Spartan helmet, the block S, the arched state lettering, or something else?

The argument in favor of creating one logo is a strong one. Over the years and currently, the University has used many different logos, and even today, there is a lack of consistency among the differing sports teams. Tom Izzo said it best when asked his opinion, “So we’ve had this, we’ve had that, we’ve had the S, we’ve had the head." I agree 100 percent, we have had too many logos. 

However, the solution does not address the problem adequately. If we add a new redesigned Spartan logo, it will be just that--an additional logo. It would never fully replace the current logo. The old logo would still likely exist in some shape or form and now there would be an additional one floating around.

But we do need to use fewer logos, and perhaps just one as the official logo.

My solution would be an amendment to the proposed plan. In this solution, everywhere you see the new logo; just use the current Spartan helmet logo. This will save the university a MULTITUDE of problems. First, it will prevent brand confusion. If the new Spartan helmet logo is implemented, it will take some time for people outside of the Michigan State University network to realize that we have a new logo. When people out of the loop see the new logo they might assume it is for another school. This could last a few months to possibly a few years. It would be better to just use the current Spartan helmet logo as part of the rebranding plan. Outsiders would be able to immediately identify this as Michigan State.

Secondly, what do we do about the current Spartan helmet logo that is (rightfully so) plastered around campus? What do we do about the Spartan helmet logo etched into the brick of Breslin? What do we do about the many Spartan helmet logos adorning the Skandalaris Football Center? It would be infeasible to replace these, especially at a time when the University lacks the funds to support keeping some of its academic programs going.

It seems like this logo redesign is here to give Michigan State an identity as part of a bigger package of changes. My question is why this cannot be done with the current Spartan helmet logo? Why does it need to be done with something new? The current Spartan helmet CAN and SHOULD be our identity. 

I may not have a degree in marketing, but I do possess common sense and uncommon sense. And my common sense tells me that we can accomplish unity by establishing the current Spartan helmet logo as the logo to be used by all of the athletic teams. And my uncommon sense tells me that there probably is an innovative plan in the works. This rebranding plan is likely good. And to make it even better, we can replace every usage of the new Spartan helmet logo with the current Spartan helmet logo.

I can’t wait until the entire slew of changes is revealed in April. However, I hope that the plan is revised to exclude the new Spartan helmet logo.