| Macquarie University
2010 REBRAND 100 Winners > notable
Industry: Educational Institutions and Libraries
Enterprise Rebrand
Country Base: Australia
Below: Before Images, Rebrand Images, Summary, Credits
Summary:
Industry Setting - Macquarie University is an Australian University on the cusp of being one of Australia’s top Universities. A younger University, about to reach their 50th year, Macquarie prides itself on being an alternative to the older Universities that follow the traditional UK/USA Universities — choosing to brand with old style crests.
Challenge - Macquarie’s previous brand featured a lighthouse, to which the link to the University was ambiguous. The brand was weak and diluted, with no brand management. Thus, the countless departments had the freedom to blur the lines of the brand. It was time to take stock of who the University was, and to modernize the brand.
Strategy - After intensive internal and external market research, the University determined its ‘Voice’ and ‘Personality’, which the new logo and branding would share. The decision was made to contrast the old style crests that the other Australian Universities chose to use (often incorporating literal elements such as books etc) in an abstract form.
The final solution represents the natural environment surrounding the University, with subtle references to the leafy green campus and the lotus flowers found on the lake. These elements combined to reflect the flexible, contemporary and agile characteristics of the University's voice, culminating in a timeless abstract form. Not ignoring the heritage of the previous logo, the new logo features the Sirius Star, present in both.
Result - Although in the early stages of its inception (launched in 2009), Macquarie has experienced a raise in profile, and staff morale with a new, consolidated brand, and an increase in student enrollments for 2010. Anecdotally, in a recent focus group, one student was quoted: “the new logo on the lecturn makes me feel more comfortable participating in my lectures."
Credits:
Client: Macquarie University, Sydney Australia - www.mq.edu.au
Brand Strategists/Designers: Paper Monkey Graphic Design, Canberra Australia - www.papermonkey.com.au
Art Director: Ben Lopez
Designers: Ben Lopez, Amanda Brierley, Darryl Butler, Jono Willis, Rhonda Reynoldson
Photography: Chris Holly for Holimage
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