In late July 2009, a possible option for a new University logo was leaked to the public. What was to be known as the laser “W” resulted in huge outcry from both the student and faculty populous alike. The remnants of this fiasco is still apparent when searching Google Images for “University of Waterloo Logo” — the laser “W” is the first image recalled.
Since the controversy, the University has had a new logo put in place — the simple “University of Waterloo” in black Gotham font. With this logo roll out also came the bright faculty and college colours, as well as the elimination of the red and yellow shield from marketing material. It was with much controversy that the shield not be included in the new logo, but it was in an attempt to portray a more cutting edge image for the University. Years later, and the faculty colours have been fully integrated into marketing, and even campus culture.
On January 13, at the Federation of Students (Feds) Council meeting, a representative from the University made a presentation showing Council a proposed logo which will be used to replace the current black Gotham font logo. The new logo was not drastically different as it used essentially the same Gotham font logo, but now included the shield to its left! How could this be? Wasn’t the shield locked away years ago to never be seen again? Apparently not.
The shield was brought back in an attempt to make the University logo look more like a traditional University logo similar to that of University of Toronto and Harvard University. During the presentation, it was mentioned that having a shield beside a University logo made it easier to identify as a University, and gave a greater status to it. Unfortunately, a digital copy of the new logo has yet to surface; otherwise it would have been included in this article.
Moving forward, the University is trying to consolidate its marketing efforts under one set of guidelines, logos, and colours. While the original school colours will be the face of most marketing material, it was said that the faculty colours will likely remain a component of University marketing due to strong liking by students and faculty. However, it is up to a vote at Deans’ Council which will determine the fate of the most colourful aspect of campus. We can only hope that purple remains the pride of Waterloo Engineering.
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