Temple University Owls: Athletic Rebrand
A case study of the strategic rebranding of the Temple University Owl's athletic logo.
Methods
Branding
Illustration
Collaboration
Team
Designer: Brett Sweeney
Lead Designer: Joe Bosack
Art Direction: Bryan Satalino
Details
Fall 2021
Tyler School of Art & Architecture
Case Study
“He remembered this iconic story and decided to work alongside
our senior design workshop”
Concept Overview
Over 30 years ago fellow Tyler School of Art & Architecture students alongside the direction of their professor, designed and presented what is today the iconic Temple University "T" logo. Now more than three decades later that logo is still used to represent our university.
When Joe Bosack, a Tyler School of Art & Architecture alum & renowned athletic branding designer won the bid to redesign Temple University's athletic identity, he remembered this iconic story and decided to work alongside our senior design workshop class to bring about the new Temple University's owl logo.
Challenge
Our challenge was to create an updated owl mark for Temple University Owls that will unify alumni, students, student-athletes, coaches, faculty, and staff. This Logo should exemplify a deep sense of pride and excitement among the Temple community.
In our creative brief, it was stated that the Temple University Owl logo should reflect Temple’s athletic traditions and legacy. Our logo should project the tenacity and pride of the Temple community, and will be leveraged to increase pride across the university; to be used for revenue and marketing opportunities.
Objective
Our objective was to create a new logo mark that updated Temple University’s athletic identity. It was stated in our creative brief that the owl mark needs to be responsive and scalable. It should represent the Temple owl with a full-body scale as well as just the head of the owl. This logo should be open and resonate with a variety of age groups and audiences. Our primary target audience was Temple University Alumni and Temple University Athletics. Our secondary target audience was current students, staff, and faculty. Our tertiary target audience was the general public.
When thinking of the application of the new logo mark, it should work in a variety of executions and media, including but not limited to on-campus facilities, fields, and courts as well as merchandising, apparel and gear. This logo should resonate closely with student-athletes, coaches, current students, administrators, and alumni to ensure the graphic can drive athletics and be something students and fans can rally around.
My Role
My responsibilities for this project was crafting and presenting my own personal logo direction to be considered for our first stakeholder meeting with Temple University Athletics and Temple University's Strategic Marketing and Communications. We worked alongside Joe Bosack and Bryan Satalino during the semester to submit our own direction which was then narrowed down to multiple directions for the stakeholder meeting.
Design Process
“The previous Temple Owl did not work for the current market”
Creative Breif
Before we even had a pencil to paper the students had a meeting with the Strategic Marketing & Communications department at Temple University to discuss the creative brief that happened between Joe Bosack and Temple University. This included more clarification on what the University was looking for in terms of the new logo. We then were presented with an audit of both Temple University’s previous logos & competitor research. This helped us better understand the idea & helped us when we started our design process.
Joe Bosack also explained to us how the previous Temple Owl did not work for the current market work due to the fact that it is an outdated style of design. Over 5 colors and an incredible amount of detail make it an amazing illustration but it doesn’t work for a solid memorable logo mark.
Stella The Owl
Alongside various means of inspiration for this project, none of these stood out more than getting to meet Stella the Owl, Temple University's live mascot since 2013. She visited our Senior Design Workshop class traveling all the way from the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Getting to learn about the species and to visually study the owl helped us make smarter decisions when designing our owl logos.
The Temple "T"
During that time we met Joe Scorsone, the professor, and Kris Herrick, one of the students among the team of students who designed the Temple "T". It was such an honor to be able to sit & talk with them about their process. They talked about their story & how the Temple "T" was formed. We even got to see the original designs that we used in the pitch to Temple University.
After that meeting, it really helped us drive home the fact that we wanted this owl logo to represent the Temple "T" visually.
Stakeholder Management
Stakeholder Meetings
While we were continuing our own version of the Temple Owl logo we were also continuing as a team to work each week with Joe Bosack to refine the logo that was selected to be the new athletic identity for Temple Athletics. What I loved about this class was being able to sit in on multiple stakeholder meetings and focus groups held by members of Temple University Athletics & Strategic Marketing & Communications. This was the first time we were able to design with real timely feedback from both stakeholders and members of the Temple University community. Being able to design with real audience feedback helped drive the logo to the finalized version helped us design effectively.
Final Design
Owl’s Logo Release
Alongside my individual contribution to the owl logo, we worked alongside Joe Bosack to develop the logo that was incorporated into the Temple Athletics in 2023. In September of 2023, the logo was released to the public. It was great to see our hard work proudly hung across the city and worn by Temple University students.
Conclusion
This was hands down one of my favorite projects in all my time here at Tyler School of Art & Architecture. Being able to be a part of the University's history is something that left a lasting impact as both a designer and a student at Temple University.
I learned so much beyond just design through this project. Being able to collaborate with a working designer each week helped me gain a better understanding of the design process from a logical standpoint. Being invited to sit in on stakeholder meetings got me to hear real feedback from potential clients and how to handle it effectively.
Credits
Designer: Brett Sweeney
Lead Designer: Joe Bosack
Art Direction: Bryan Satalino
Class: Senior Design Workshop
Institution: Tyler School of Art and Architecture — Graphic and Interactive Design