The University of Western Ontario is not truly Western University.
The decision to change “the brand” of the university came from a seven month long consulting project from the school’s Communications and Public Affairs Department as well as Toronto based design firm Hahn Smith Design.
The process went on from June to December 2011 and involved faculty, staff, students and alumni in a discussion about Western’s visual identity. According to Western they conducted online and in-person surveys, workshops and individual interviews with close to 5,000 alumni, donors and friends, more than 3,700 students, and approximately 2,000 faculty and staff members.
The reason stated for this $200,000 rebranding process was that the “visual identity” of Western is too confusing due to an over saturation of clubs, groups, departments, and teams having their own logo and visual aesthetic. So, in order to maintain control of their brand, the administration added another, more authoritative and encompassing, logo to the mix.
The new logo encompasses what they gathered to be the identifying features of the University of Western Ontario. The school’s original coat of arms has been brought back, on it the rising sun, a book with the date of the schools founding, and a maple leaf at the bottom. Like Trent, Western has borrowed a visual cue from the city in which it is located. A stag on the new Western logo is from the City of London’s coat of arms. A demi-lion is there to represent the founding story of the university.
Hahn Smith Design is also known for their design and rebranding campaigns for other institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art, The Art Gallery of Ontario, and Harvard University. Western University President Amit Chakma seems excited to be added to Hahn Smith Design client list. “Harvard isn’t just Harvard,” Chakma said. “It’s Harvard University. But you don’t have to say university. How long will it take Western to get there, I don’t know. Our goal is to become such a recognized brand that just Western means us.”
Reactions from students have been mixed. Student Yvonne Mbinda pointed out that the rebranding is a bit awkward because there is already a Western University in the Republic of Azerbaijan. It takes its name from being west of Asia, but in the far east of Europe. This gives Western University [the real one] the unique opportunity to have students and professors studying from all around Asia and Europe. This Western University also has an interesting logo design.
The other awkward bit of confusion for graduates is what the name of the school is on their degree. Western University is not the official name of the school, so on all official documents students still are attending and did attend the University of Western Ontario.
