New St. John's logo

[aykay]

Here it is. Nike worked with the school in designing this. I'm surprised the people at Nike made something so generic. I just hope they don't screw up the uniforms.

And here's an article from the school explaining the whole situation:

Dear St. John?s Fans,

As our Red Storm athletic teams begin to take the fields and the courts this fall, you will notice a new look to the St. John?s Athletic logo emblazoned on our uniforms. If you look at sweatshirts and baseball caps in the University Bookstore, you will also notice a change. There is a new excitement surrounding St. John?s sports this fall as the University unveils its new athletics logo, meshing the acronym ?STJ? as part of the design.

As students begin to arrive on campus next week and as fans begin to pack the stands, you?ll begin to see the new logo everywhere ? on merchandise, athletic uniforms, game programs, our athletics website, www.redstormsports.com, and in the media.

Since 2001 St. John?s has undergone a rebranding effort, which established a unique identity for the University and brought a consistent look to all multimedia communications and electronic materials. Our new athletics logo is an outgrowth of that original project, resulting in a greater awareness of St. John?s.

While conducting the historical review on the athletics logos, the University recognized it had a long and storied history with STJ. Several teams already use the STJ logo, most notably baseball, but now all teams will use an identical logo that brings with it a new look. Vice President of Marketing and Communications Brenda Majeski notes, ?STJ plays off the heritage of the baseball team and we can own it across all media. We can protect it. The new logo respects the past while representing the future.?

Majeski noted that implementation of a new brand and the new logo complements the resurgence in excitement for Red Storm Athletics, led by a crop of dynamic and successful coaches like Norm Roberts (Men?s Basketball), Kim Barnes Arico (Women?s Basketball), Dave Masur (Men?s Soccer) and Ed Blankmeyer (Baseball).

Chris Monasch, Director of Athletics, noted that creating uniformity across the University?s athletic teams is the goal. He added that as the new logo is unveiled, it fulfills a variety of additional needs such as uniforms and merchandising. ?The reputation of the University and its athletics program will only be enhanced by this branding effort, and continues to build on the initiative to generate awareness,? Monasch said.

The new logo has been designed by Nike, which chose St. John?s as one of a handful of schools nationally with whom to work. The University solicited feedback from various constituencies of St. John?s including alumni, students, coaches and student-athletes. The final design, which won out over 30 others, comes into full swing now, as our fall sports begin competition.

For more information and to answer any questions you might have, feel free to click on the link here.

We are? St. John?s!

Here is the FAQ:

New Athletic Brand Identity FAQs

What are the new changes to the University?s athletics logo and brand? Why were these changes made, and why are the changes important?

The University?s athletics logo has changed from its former Nike logo (first utilized on uniforms in 1998-99) to a new Nike logo, which debuts in August 2006. This new brand incorporates the St. John?s athletic tradition ? including the original school colors (red and white) ? with the ability to highlight the initials ?STJ? and incorporate a new, vertical look to our logo.

St. John?s had to address the issue that the University never owned the acronym ?SJU.? SJU is copyrighted by St. Joseph?s University in Philadelphia, Pa., and St. John?s College in Minnesota uses the acronym with permission from St. Joseph?s.

At St. John?s, we wanted to create our own identity, and, with the help of Nike, established a new athletic logo featuring STJ ? an acronym that we, as a University, have used in a variety of ways for more than 40 years, and an acronym that we, as a University, can copyright and own.

How did you decide on the new athletic logo and how long did the process take?

The University held several focus groups with key administrators, University personnel and our entire coaching staff before coming to a final decision. Nike Inc.  presented nearly 30 designs before the final one was chosen. The overall process took about 18 months.

Why did the University change its nickname from Redmen to Red Storm in the first place?

The decision was made to change the nickname in 1994. At the time, colleges nationwide were becoming more sensitive to mounting Native American concerns in reference to collegiate and professional team nicknames that reference Native American culture. Although the nickname ?Redmen? was instituted because the men of St. John?s wore red, and did not have an original basis in Native American culture, it did eventually evolve into a nickname that referenced Native American symbology. St. John?s wanted to make a change that would stay true to its tradition, but also be distinctive and unique. Thus, the new nickname Red Storm was born.

What do you say to alumni and friends of the University who were not supportive back in 1994 and now have another change to accept?

The changes were made for the good of the University in both instances. We are very aware of our alumni?s concerns and appreciate both their support and the storied tradition of our athletic programs. We hope our supporters will embrace this change, and that fans will take to the STJ acronym and new logo over time.

Is ?Red Storm? the permanent nickname for St. John?s athletic teams?  What happened to Thunder, the last known St. John?s mascot?

The ?Red Storm? nickname is here to stay. The University defines Red Storm as the following:

"Red? is the color of St. John?s. Red is for passion. A passion for helping others, a passion for tradition, scholarship, spirit and success. Red is for opportunity, on the fields of play and off.

?Storm? is a movement. A united group of people working toward the greater good. It is a network between the past and the present. It is about belonging to something bigger than one?s self.

?Red Storm? is an uprising. A movement of the sum ? all working as a team with dignity, pride, determination, respect, and without fear. The uprising may be quiet or it may be fierce, but it is always with heart and passion.

Thunder the mascot has been discontinued for some years. There is not a new mascot as of yet, but plans for a new mascot may be considered for the future.

Who knows, maybe the new look will grow on this SJU . . . I mean St.J grad.

[sideshowbob]

I don't like this, I really liked the horse logo and the st. johns with the lightning bolt, i say downgrade

[aykay]

I don't like this, I really liked the horse logo and the st. johns with the lightning bolt, i say downgrade

That is a first. Everyone that I have come across at the University absolutley hated the horse and lightning logos. Myself included.

[firestorm]

Hey aykay, nice to see you here.

Initial reaction among SJU, er STJ, alumni and fans appears to be 100 percent in favor of chasing the people responsible out of town. Hard to believe the showcase college hoops program in New York, working with Nike, can't do better than this.

New b'ball unis haven't been unveiled yet, but you can see the treatment on the women's soccer uniforms at:

http://www.redstormsports.com/

[NissanNut]

First the basketball team... now the athletic logos... South Florida won't be Big East cellar dwellers this year.

[SabreGuy]

What? Syracuse didn't like it, so they gave it to St. John's? Sheesh!

[firestorm]

What? Syracuse didn't like it, so they gave it to St. John's? Sheesh!

Syracuse-lite? Ouch!

I'll take wagers that the unis will look a lot like the template used by every other Nike school.

[leopard88]

Is that really all there is? A monogram and two wordmarks in a block font? It just seems like something has to be missing.

[aykay]

Is that really all there is? A monogram and two wordmarks in a block font? It just seems like something has to be missing.

Unfortunetly . . . yes. That's all there is. It looks like Illinois is also going this route, with only their letter "I".

[Moser316]

Whoever from Nike pawned this off on the SJU athletic department/administration must be the graphic design eqiuvalent of Lyle Lanley.

[nyk]

One Word to describe the logo: "ill"

I'm accually scared to see what the uniform will look like. You know how Nike like teams to wear their experimental uniforms, only to tweak it later, like Kansas' uniform basketball uniforms.

I like the logo they were using, (I CALL IT THE "TEAM JORDAN" FONT) I just wish they used the "ST.J" alone, more than using the whole "ST.JOHN'S", "REDSTORM", or the "ST.J in the grey basketball" (the one ESPN uses alot for St. Johns). Not to mention I love the uniforms (The original TEAM JORDAN uniforms) since they originally wore them back in the "Ron Artest and Erick Barkley Days", i'm happy they went back to them.

Questions:

Does this mean they're using Red and Black now, and not Red and Navy Blue?

And why isnt St. Johns with Team Jordan anymore, because last season their uniforms had Nike on them?

[Max Power]

I kind of like the StJ mark, but the rest are really bland. I hope they didn't spend much for that redesign cause it looks like it took about 2 seconds of work.

I didn't like the horse logo, but it was better than this. Though I can appreciate them trying to move from SJU to StJ. If they bring back the skyline shorts from the Felipe Lopez days then they'll be fine.

[slapshot]

Whoever from Nike pawned this off on the SJU athletic department/administration must be the graphic design eqiuvalent of Lyle Lanley.

If Leonard Nimoy presided over the unveiling, you'd have to say it was a hoax.

I wonder what they'll come up with for North Haverbrook...

[dpnation]

Geez, designers can't win being futuristic, can't win being simplistic. Still, I'd rather have the new design anyday compared to these logos:

[edit for spelling]

[hecticbro]

I'm surprised the majority of you don't like this. You seem to favor simple, clean designs (especially if there's a clever little thing in there like the Whalers' or Brewers' old logos). They put S T J and arguably a U into one little space. That would look neat on a baseball cap, and it worked on those soccer jerseys.

There needs to be another logo to go with it though, something graphic.

[js °]

well there is a giant difference between excellent minimal design, and lazy "undesigned' simplicity. This is the second ... for a great example of the first, the San Diego Padres logo shows how a great clean well thought out minimal design can speak volumes without looking like it was a cut and paste job done in microsoft word

[leopard88]

There needs to be another logo to go with it though, something graphic.

That's really the problem. It's just the monogram and the wordmarks. The old one's shown above certainly had their problems, but this set desperately needs something else to go with it.

[hecticbro]

Honestly, I don't really see much difference between the St. John's logo and that Padres logo. Maybe San Diego chose a better font, but St. John's gets a little credit for slipping in an extra letter.

I like this version of the three-letter-interlocked logo better, though:

[aykay]

I wonder why St. John's just didn't go with this.

It's got history with the University going back to the basketball uniforms worn by the Wonder 5 teams of the 1920's and 30's. The baseball team has also been using it for a long time.

[fonz]

Boy, is that logo boring.