St. John's Up For A Change

[impulsive106]

SJU vs. STJ: New logo, new look

by JENNIFER PETERS, Managing Editor

April 26, 2006

A new logo is currently being developed by the University?s marketing department, with help from Nike, and will be unveiled at the end of the summer, University administrators told The Torch on Monday.

St. John?s, which has changed from using the traditional SJU brand to the new STJ, made the decision to change its logo in 2003, as part of a new brand identity program.

Although the University had trademarked and licensed the use of SJU for merchandise and clothing, it was never licensed for online use. The Web site domain sju.edu is owned by St. Joseph?s University in Philadelphia and could not be used by St. John?s.

?If you want people looking for St. John?s [online], you don?t want to be sending them on a wild goose chase,? said Brenda Majeski, St. John?s vice president of marketing and communications.

When the University was unable to obtain the domain name, they chose to drop SJU completely, letting the trademarks rights run out, and move to using STJ.

?I think the reason marketing and communications decided to go into the STJ area is they felt we would have more of a chance to protect STJ in the market in various forms,? said Chris Monasch, St. John?s athletic director. ?That?s the primary reason.?

Rumors had circulated that the change was being made because of trademark negligence. There were also stories that another school (St. Joseph?s in Philadelphia or Saint John?s University in Minnesota) had taken the acronym before St. John?s of New York had a chance to protect use of the name. However, those rumors are unfounded.

?We protected the Johnnies (nickname) and can use SJU with permission,? said Tom Stock, athletic director of Saint John?s University in Minnesota.

The University?s marketing department is currently working with Nike to create a new logo. The design philosophy of the logo will be to ?respect the past and represent the future,? Majeski said.

?Looking at it from the ability to protect it, they have the best opportunity to protect STJ and possibly use it consistent with the Web site and other platforms in the future,? Monasch said. ?[We?re] working with Nike to create a new licensed product, [and] they felt that we could be more creative with (STJ).?

In addition to creating a new logo, St. John?s is also looking for a new mascot to go along with the revamped look of the University.

?I think the general feeling is to stay with Red Storm for the long term,? Monasch said. ?I think we?re looking at the potential of what mascot do you line up with it and what ways to incorporate that in the future.?

http://www.torchonline.com/vnews/display.v...6/444f706fdc3fc

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I'm hoping that they can at least keep a remnant of the red horse logo they had; it's one of the more underused secondaries. After seeing how well Nike did with Washington, I'm anticipating what they'll do with the horse...or whatever mark they decide to make .

Pic of horse logo:

[schtee]

I was always a fan of the "Redmen" but I found "Red Storm" too not be too bad.

"STJ" makes perfect sense, especially cosidering that those are the letters they use on their baseball caps.

I hope they don't change the wordmark and style of their basketball uni's, it's the best ones they've had in their history.

[dfwabel]

You had to enjoy the shorts worn during the Felipe Lopes era. Most should remember the NYC skyline on the shorts. Appropriate for the 1990's...horrible today!

[Ron Mexico]

[NJTank]

What ever happened to Felipe Lopez

[BBM]

Hey I have that hat.

[VitaminD]

"STJ" makes perfect sense, especially cosidering that those are the letters they use on their baseball caps.

St. Joseph's uses a very similar monogram on their baseball caps. The biggest difference is that the lowercase "t" is formed by the upper part of the straight stroke in the "J", and the "J" isn't offset to the left. Still, the monograms contain almost the same elements, and similar colors. "STJ" makes no more sense for St. John's than it does for St. Joe's, and doesn't alleviate the confusion much.

[meetthemets]

I've seen the new marks and they won't bear any resemblance to the current wordmarks or have any horses in them. In my opinion they were pretty blah.

[Gothamite]

"STJ" makes no more sense for St. John's than it does for St. Joe's, and doesn't alleviate the confusion much.

Why not? "STL" makes perfect sense for St. Louis....

The only problem I have with this mark is that the "J" is on the wrong side - it doesn't read well left to right. But the idea is solid, and the letters make perfect sense.

[dfwabel]

What ever happened to Felipe Lopez

The last thing I remember is that he is a color commentator for the NBA broadcast for Univision.

[footballfiji]

I think the J on the left side works. If it was on the right then it might get lost in the little t and the curves under the S and J might connect and then just look weird.

[aykay]

"STJ" makes no more sense for St. John's than it does for St. Joe's, and doesn't alleviate the confusion much.

Why not? "STL" makes perfect sense for St. Louis....

The only problem I have with this mark is that the "J" is on the wrong side - it doesn't read well left to right. But the idea is solid, and the letters make perfect sense.

I guess I'm the resident St. John's fan here. The "St.J" logo goes back to the days of Buck Freeman and the Wonder 5. The logo was worn on the front of their uniforms. I for one don't want us to have anything to do with the horse again. I was never a fan of those logos, and I especially wasn't a fan of "Thunder" the mascot. Since we will never go back to Redmen we should just keep the current nickname, but go just have a red apple as our mascot, similar to Otto the Orangeman.

I do like the current font that is used on the uniforms, I hope that Nike keeps that, but I wish we didn't have the wide shoulder cut for our jerseys.

[walkdesign]

As a kid my first sports team I ever rooted for was Chris Mulllin's St. John's Redmen. When I think of the glory days of college basketball for me personally, I always think of those Georgetown vs. St. Johns games. Then Malik Sealy was a big idol of mine as well.

To me, I would love to see St. Johns use the baseball hat insignia as well as as the throwback jerseys from the Mullin era. I thought those were great and has a classic Kansas type feel. For New Yorkers St. Johns is less modern (like the brand Jordan stuff) and more traditional like the old Mullin jersey below.

[meetthemets]

The new marks will be more like that. I can tell you that the new marks are very simple. I have just seen the wordmarks and the STJ. It will be a very simple block font.

[aykay]

As a kid my first sports team I ever rooted for was Chris Mulllin's St. John's Redmen. When I think of the glory days of college basketball for me personally, I always think of those Georgetown vs. St. Johns games. Then Malik Sealy was a big idol of mine as well.

To me, I would love to see St. Johns use the baseball hat insignia as well as as the throwback jerseys from the Mullin era. I thought those were great and has a classic Kansas type feel. For New Yorkers St. Johns is less modern (like the brand Jordan stuff) and more traditional like the old Mullin jersey below.

I loved when we wore those throwbacks 2 years ago. Too bad it was during the forgettable 03-04 season. I own the red and white Mully jerseys.

[Burkell007]

NO MORE THROWBACKS/RETRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[impulsive106]

The new marks will be more like that. I can tell you that the new marks are very simple. I have just seen the wordmarks and the STJ. It will be a very simple block font.

So there's no new mascot? If so, how does it look?

[schtee]

For New Yorkers St. Johns is less modern (like the brand Jordan stuff) and more traditional like the old Mullin jersey below.

I'm a New Yorker (well, not currently) and while the retros are all well and good, the current style as worn by erick barkley, omar cook and marcus hatten up to today with 'showtime' hill are the ones for me. they are sleek and bold.

that being said, I just want them to return to the Big East Tournament, to the N.I.T., baby steps, baby steps.

[meetthemets]

The new marks will be more like that. I can tell you that the new marks are very simple. I have just seen the wordmarks and the STJ. It will be a very simple block font.

So there's no new mascot? If so, how does it look?

I don't believe there's a new mascot just yet. If there is I haven't seen one. Just new wordmarks and the new STJ mark.

[aykay]

For New Yorkers St. Johns is less modern (like the brand Jordan stuff) and more traditional like the old Mullin jersey below.

I'm a New Yorker (well, not currently) and while the retros are all well and good, the current style as worn by erick barkley, omar cook and marcus hatten up to today with 'showtime' hill are the ones for me. they are sleek and bold.

that being said, I just want them to return to the Big East Tournament, to the N.I.T., baby steps, baby steps.

I like the current look too. I just wish the shoulders weren't as wide. But those throwbacks are just money.