Kennesaw State unveils new Logo

[Iceman87GT]

Oh wow, this is awesome! Y'all are going to be looking great up there BraveBird. I might actually have to swing by the campus to check some of the new logos out (on 2nd thought that would mean I would have to put up with Towne Center traffic so maybe not.) I'm even excited for ya'll football team with this net set.

BTW, talking to one of my friends who is a Gama Phi Beta up there and she said they're going to build a new stadium for football after they finish the work on the road going under 75 and the team wouldn't start under the stadium is built. Any truth to this?

I'm hearing that too.

In an interview I had with Vaughn Williams, the AD, in the fall I was told the football team will have its own stadium eventually. Until one is built he said the team would start play in KSU Stadium, which has about 9,000 seats for soccer. The stadium was actually intentionally designed to handle a Phase II...which is why there is a giant concrete walkway once you enter through the gates. So, we might just see expansion on that one.

I'm going to interview him again to do the story on the new logos, so perhaps I'll drop some questions in about these stadium rumors swirling around.

They need to modify the KSU Soccer Stadium, there's no need for a new one, especially since the soccer team will never fill that stadium.

[thegame4219]

The soccer stadium was built with ample space to handle a football team There was an unused full locker room in what was open to media when it was only the soccer teams (KSU Women's and Atlanta Beat) and it is said that there is another grouping of lockers under the far stands. The was stadium was built it was made to accommodate and second tier of seats to fit with FBS seating rules.

[BrandMooreArt]

it instantly looked like a logo for a roller coater to me. its better than what they had but there are some issues i have with it. i dont think the feet should be there, it looks really awkward and cheesy. theres some sloppy pen tool work going on in the wings too. the "state" font dosent have unity here. i think its too thick for this design. a thinner slab serif might be nice there. and bank gothic for "owls", i dont know. it works there, but its such an ugly font. im all for mixing fonts, i dont mind they used 3, but there has to be more thought put into it. 3 sans serifs im not feeling. its 3 completely different directions. have to think of unity and contrast. this studio has produced some really great logos and this dosent measure up to them at all.

[Iceman87GT]

The soccer stadium was built with ample space to handle a football team There was an unused full locker room in what was open to media when it was only the soccer teams (KSU Women's and Atlanta Beat) and it is said that there is another grouping of lockers under the far stands. The was stadium was built it was made to accommodate and second tier of seats to fit with FBS seating rules.

Yeah the only acceptable reason for building another stadium would be to put one on campus. Then again by the time the football team takes the field I'll be an alumni so that really won't matter. And its not like there is anywhere to put it, the soccer practice field (formerly the playing field) isn't far enough away from the Baseball field, they would have to move both the softball field and baseball field over to create room, and even then I don't think it would be enough.

No matter what the stadium is going to be off campus, and I don't think its a good idea to hike student fees up anymore just so Soccer and Football can play on the same days at the same time (because that's the only valid reason for building a second stadium).

Hey Bravebird, can you ask about a "Custom Font" basically will the font we see on the new logo (and the modified version of it in the KS logo) will be used for the numbers on some/all teams or if it will be limited to just the lettering and logos.

[GeauxColonels]

i dont think the feet should be there, it looks really awkward and cheesy.

That's the first thing I thought when I looked at the logo.

theres some sloppy pen tool work going on in the wings too.

Could you elaborate more on this. For someone like myself that has no training whatsoever in graphic design, I would really like to know what you're referring to.

[tBBP]

He's referring to the tips of the feathers. The curvatures are a good bit off?they're not as smooth as they could/should be.

[GeauxColonels]

He's referring to the tips of the feathers. The curvatures are a good bit off?they're not as smooth as they could/should be.

OK. I think I see it. The 2nd feathers on either side seem to stick out a little too much. They should really all fall within the same curve as if the wings were a consistent strong. Is that it?

[Iceman87GT]

it instantly looked like a logo for a roller coater to me. its better than what they had but there are some issues i have with it. i dont think the feet should be there, it looks really awkward and cheesy. theres some sloppy pen tool work going on in the wings too. the "state" font dosent have unity here. i think its too thick for this design. a thinner slab serif might be nice there. and bank gothic for "owls", i dont know. it works there, but its such an ugly font. im all for mixing fonts, i dont mind they used 3, but there has to be more thought put into it. 3 sans serifs im not feeling. its 3 completely different directions. have to think of unity and contrast. this studio has produced some really great logos and this dosent measure up to them at all.

I prefer my logos be consistent, its always weird when you see one version of the logo and then the next and all of a sudden they have features that have come out of nowhere.

[BrandMooreArt]

He's referring to the tips of the feathers. The curvatures are a good bit off?they're not as smooth as they could/should be.

OK. I think I see it. The 2nd feathers on either side seem to stick out a little too much. They should really all fall within the same curve as if the wings were a consistent strong. Is that it?

yea its mostly in the feathers. ive heard the same thing from others via twitter. i guess its one of those things where once you see it you cant unsee it. also the long yellow lines t the top of the wings seem odd to me. it could be where they drew a line and applied a brush stroke to it. it at least has the same end result. then you have the shadowing on the left side of the face, but the highlights elswhere suggest light is coming from the top down. for a guy/crew who has done work as amazing as UConn and Baylor i really expected a bit more

[Iceman87GT]

He's referring to the tips of the feathers. The curvatures are a good bit off—they're not as smooth as they could/should be.

OK. I think I see it. The 2nd feathers on either side seem to stick out a little too much. They should really all fall within the same curve as if the wings were a consistent strong. Is that it?

yea its mostly in the feathers. ive heard the same thing from others via twitter. i guess its one of those things where once you see it you cant unsee it. also the long yellow lines t the top of the wings seem odd to me. it could be where they drew a line and applied a brush stroke to it. it at least has the same end result. then you have the shadowing on the left side of the face, but the highlights elswhere suggest light is coming from the top down. for a guy/crew who has done work as amazing as UConn and Baylor i really expected a bit more

I believe the lines you are referring to represent Kennesaw Mountain, which can be seen from the campus and has been used in logos for decades.

And the feathers are not a perfect representation of a wing span but they do fall in line with the real life thing.

The feathers are not all consistent and the top few (in this case 4, in others 3), are curved completely different from the rest of the feathers.

[BrandMooreArt]

^ i see this as the source of the problem. they tried too hard to replicate the wings from real life. we dont need realism here. it makes for some really odd curves and shapes. you wouldnt try to replicate in graphic form a lightning bolt directly from nature right? you simplify it while still making it readable. see the Chargers and TB Lightning. that would be more aesthetically pleasing i think.

the lines on top of the wings arent the issue. its a nice touch but i dont like how it looks like a brush applied to a line. (which it may very well be). its a small detail, but if the inside were curved and not pointed, it would be more pleasing. to me at least.

i think its odd that the pupils have the highlights on the outside of both eyes too instead of on the same side. this depends on lighting, but again we have 2 different directions. according to the shadowing on the face, the eye's highlights should look more like this.

its small details. but a lot of them. its stuff like this that will keep me from really loving a logo. all the intangible stuff (meaning, communication, personality, etc) is way more important than the technical, but i've been nice about it. designers like Gert VanDerlin and Von Glitschka rage over those details.

[Iceman87GT]

^ i see this as the source of the problem. they tried too hard to replicate the wings from real life. we dont need realism here. it makes for some really odd curves and shapes. you wouldnt try to replicate in graphic form a lightning bolt directly from nature right? you simplify it while still making it readable. see the Chargers and TB Lightning. that would be more aesthetically pleasing i think.

the lines on top of the wings arent the issue. its a nice touch but i dont like how it looks like a brush applied to a line. (which it may very well be). its a small detail, but if the inside were curved and not pointed, it would be more pleasing. to me at least.

i think its odd that the pupils have the highlights on the outside of both eyes too instead of on the same side. this depends on lighting, but again we have 2 different directions. according to the shadowing on the face, the eye's highlights should look more like this.

its small details. but a lot of them. its stuff like this that will keep me from really loving a logo. all the intangible stuff (meaning, communication, personality, etc) is way more important than the technical, but i've been nice about it. designers like Gert VanDerlin and Von Glitschka rage over those details.

Gotcha, I feel bad for you, as your work forces you to over-analyze this stuff. And by that I mean you can't help but see the small things (not that you are over-obsessing about it), most can overlook that stuff, but it stands out to you whether you want it to or not. Not that you need pity, I mean if you were a Kennesaw State fan it'd be an issue, because it would keep you from enjoying something that you should be able to enjoy (at least on some level), but I'm sure that same awareness to those details makes the great logos that much more amazing.

[Brave-Bird 08]

Nothing in the new logo represents the University logo or Kennesaw Mountain. On the other hand, it is represented in this. ...I love the new logos though. I will say while trying to do a rehash of KSU for my football concept series I'm having trouble making any of the marks look good on a uniform. I'm worried about how the football uniforms will look in 2 years. The old logo was perfect for a helmet.

[BrandMooreArt]

ive always liked this BB. much more than the new official logo.

[Brave-Bird 08]

Well that's a hell of a compliment coming from you. I actually prefer the new mark. Anyways, here is the T-Shirt I just snagged from our bookstore. The entire script. I'm seeing a lot of really cool versions of the logo on merch. I meant to take photos in the bookstore but my camera battery dumped.

The new Owl head logo looks particularly awesome. I'll make a run over there tomorrow and take some more pics.

[Brave-Bird 08]

Update here. KSU has listed more logos on the website. There's two script logos and two alternate logos that are pretty cool. I'm going to assume one of the "spirit" logos will be used on the club football team helmets this year. Also, evidently there is a custom A-Z font that follows the style of the script in the logo.

Here's a look at the alternate logos.