If there is one symbol that everybody is aware of Dalhousie for, it’s the distinct eagle and shield. Taken from the university seal, the Dalhousie “crest” has been a core element of the university’s brand for the previous 35 a long time, obvious on innumerable indicators, posters, merchandise and sites.
But it has not seemed accurately the similar throughout those 35 a long time. Over time, it is develop into far more streamlined and simplified, and some aspects have improved form, as evolutions to Dal’s search and sense have sought to align the university’s brand with a total suite of transformations — societal, physical, digital and every thing in among.
On the still left is the formal Dalhousie seal, from which the eagle and shield are taken. The shields that abide by date to 1989, 2004 and 2014, respectively.
“A brand name is about how we specific ourselves to the earth,” points out Matt Proctor, Dalhousie’s assistant vice-president of Communications, Marketing and Resourceful Companies. “Our model identity is manufactured up of all the minor cues that can make anyone consider, ‘Hey, this feels like Dalhousie College.’”
That includes the symbol, of class, but also a whole good deal extra: fonts, colours, style and design templates and even direction on how to specific what helps make Dalhousie special to its constituents — whether they’re on the lookout to study at Dal, operate at Dal, donate or volunteer, partner or engage with the university in some other way.
“All these brand factors incorporate to make sure that Dalhousie is recognizable, wherever you occur across us,” says Proctor.
That’s why the new search for Dalhousie’s symbol — launched right now as portion of the most recent refresh of Dal’s brand name — is however quickly recognizable as the legendary eagle and defend. But what is distinct about it is emblematic of the tactic for the manufacturer refresh overall: cleaner, less complicated, far better developed to fulfill the requirements of an more and more digital world and crafted all-around the most current internet accessibility benchmarks. Without a doubt, the new model is remaining touted as more accessible than ahead of.
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Dal President Deep Saini says this is an ideal time for this “freshening up” of Dal’s brand name — pursuing Dal 200 celebrations in 2018, the launch of the Third Century Promise strategic system final yr, and progressively demands for digitalization that improve the way folks interact and raises the bar for accessibility.
“This is an exciting milestone as we forge ahead in fulfilling our shared guarantee and displaying the planet what Dalhousie has to offer,” suggests Dr. Saini.
A new outlook on Dal’s guarantee
3rd Century Promise, Dal’s strategic system, asks what it would get to carry Dalhousie into the neighborhood of the world’s finest universities, and outlines approaches to assistance obtain that bold target. Alongside this get the job done, the group at Communications, Internet marketing and Resourceful Companies (CMC) has engaged in an update to the Dalhousie brand name to match — a refined and refreshed expression of what it is that can make Dalhousie distinct, and why it implies so a great deal to so lots of men and women.
“In the lots of discussions we have had about the earlier quite a few months — with stakeholders on campus, in the local community, with potential students — we’ve heard the identical things around and above once again: a self-assurance in what Dalhousie is capable of, and that folks want to listen to us speak about it,” claims Proctor. “They’ve asked us to be bolder, get to further more and be more inclusive.”
Operating with community advertising and marketing agency M5, the CMC team relied on current and new analysis with key audiences and stakeholders to produce an updated visual model id, evidently outlined positioning and a unique model guarantee, all intended to aid shape and tell how students, companions and collaborators encounter the college.
“In an more and more digital environment, the parts of a brand have to have to perform throughout platforms and be quickly recognizable no make any difference wherever you experience them,” claims Damian Bonse, govt innovative director at M5. “This new brand considers al this and brings it jointly with the outstanding, life-changing times, discoveries and information that make Dalhousie University such an exceptional area.”
The manufacturer is created on a foundation of Third Century Guarantee’s 5 pillars and the four related pillars of the manufacturer — features of Dalhousie that determine and condition people’s knowledge with the college. These consist of:
- Exploration affect: A entire world of transform begins at Dalhousie
- Academic excellence: Designed to help bright minds excel
- Partaking community: Local community is more than simply the room we share
- Incredible place: A position crammed with transformative times
On this basis, the brand name provides personality attributes and a positioning assertion outlining what Dal can uniquely provide its learners and its communities. And at the extremely top of the model is its guarantee — a determination that sets the expectation of what men and women can be expecting from the college:
Dalhousie College is the place infinite ambition satisfies worldwide effect
“This is a location wherever distinctive encounters arrive collectively,” says Proctor. “There’s no lack of techniques in which Dal delivers together the best of equally worlds, regardless of whether it’s its sizing, its concentration on each research and instructing, or in the techniques it will allow college students to bridge perspectives and disciplines.”
Producing an impression
Why does a university have a manufacturer in the initial location?
The planet is complex and cluttered, and the ways people will learn about or experience Dalhousie and its perform are varied and sophisticated as effectively. Versus this backdrop, regularity and alignment are crucial. No matter whether it is with an ad or a web site, a brochure or a enterprise card, the brand name makes sure folks understand “Dalhousie University” when they see it.
To complete this, Dalhousie’s manufacturer refresh involves a complete brand process constructed with both of those alignment and versatility in head. Among the the brand’s much more novel functions is a new form — dubbed the “Dalcon” (shorter for “Dalhousie icon”) — that’s borrowed from the logo’s eagle and functions as a “brand cue” throughout the innovative system. And from colors to graphics, a solid concentration on accessibility flows by means of all features.
“Especially as we work in an ever more electronic planet, it’s essential that the way we converse is obtainable to absolutely everyone,” claims Keri Irwin, Dalhousie’s director of marketing. “That’s why we’ve prioritized a extra legible font, colors that better meet visual standards, and other modifications that align with Internet Content material Accessibility Rules.”
Which brings us again to the brand by itself. Given that the way persons knowledge Dal’s symbol could be as large as a billboard or as little as a smartwatch screen, the refreshed emblem aligns with broader trends to simplifying logos and design. With cleaner, rounded and geometric strains, the brand aims to sense extra approachable and up to date while also meeting the necessities of electronic communications. In testing, individuals instructed Dal’s task crew that the refreshed symbol feels bolder, more vibrant, progressive, self-confident, participating, special, and gives the effect of high quality when when compared with other university logos. There is also, for the to start with time, a uniquely worldwide edition of the logo to placement Dalhousie amid its Canadian peers globally.
The revised brand will also serve as inspiration for two special art jobs getting commissioned to develop extra inclusion and diversity in Dal’s visible representation: just one in partnership with the Mi’kmaq neighborhood, and the other in partnership with the African Nova Scotian group.
“While we usually strive to build terms and visuals that represent the diverse group that will make Dalhousie exceptional, we also acknowledge there is more we can do,” says Julie Hallett, associate director of brand name and marketing, who claims more facts on the artwork projects will be shared in the months to occur. “We are each grateful for these engagements and energized to see this perform come to lifestyle in excess of the upcoming various months.”
Bringing the model to everyday living
In supplemental to accessibility and inclusion, sustainability is also leading of thoughts for the new manufacturer. CMC is asking persons to use up current brand elements before transferring onto new kinds, conserving both fees and paper/printing.
People will see the new manufacturer products in electronic areas initially (as they are quickest and simplest to update) but shortly it will begin showing up in all sorts of other destinations. The CMC workforce is also welcoming aid in pinpointing materials that should really be up to date. If you see a thing that calls for an update, you can permit the staff know by emailing [email protected].
Find out extra: Discover the refreshed Dal manufacturer
Flashback file: Selecting Dal’s logo
Dalhousie Information, 1988
In 1988, Dalhousie News ran a piece inviting associates of the Dal local community to mail — sure, previous fashioned mail — their views for what should be Dalhousie’s brand.
At difficulty was the point that there was far more than 90 different logos in use by different Faculties, departments and models. Howard Clark, college president at the time, recounted that in one particular working day he received 5 items of mail with 5 various Dalhousie logos. “You’d swear they’d occur from 5 diverse institutions,” he claimed.
Amongst the much more interesting logos circulating at the time involved several takes on squares and strains, a unicorn head — like the eagle and protect, also taken from the Dalhousie crest — and a trident.
A committee chaired by Dean of Drugs Jock Murray was tasked with sorting via the several possibilities and, in 1989, the eagle and shield was officially portion of Dal’s initially standard symbol.