Even the very best, most inspiring, and well-thought-out brand-new identity system is easy prey to one simple fact: people do not like change.
That’s what makes Pentagram’s presentation of Loyola Marymount University’s new identity system so smart: first, the design team made it easy for school designers to follow and implement the plan. Second, they made it simple for the public to understand and appreciate the new branding.
In addition to a full set of online identity guidelines, the Pentagram Austin team produced a printed, four-page, quick-reference document for university designers and others who needed to be conversant with the system. Keeping instructions simple helped create uniformity and discipline.
To make the system of four primary marks easy for the public to appreciate, the Pentagram team created posters that would be placed all over campus that showed school celebrities—athletes, favorite instructors, coaches and even the school’s lion mascot Iggy—displaying or wearing the mark that best related to them. Whether the poster showed the university’s primary mark, ceremonial mark, athletic mark, or spirit mark, it was shown in context. On another level, showing campus luminaries indicating happy approval furthered public acceptance.
