UNLV refreshes their Hey Reb! Spirit Mark

In their press release announcing their logo “refresh,” UNLV noted that they’ve made changes to their primary mark approximately once every decade since going with the Hey Reb! look back in 1982. Well, the Rebels have decided that 2017 was the time to make their once-in-a-decade change, because they’ve released another refresh.

UNLV made sure to be very clear about the changes that were made by noting them out in their press release.

With the refresh, primary elements of the current mark were retained but modernized, building on the existing scarlet, gray, and black color palette and the arched UNLV. The cornerstone of the mark, Hey Reb!, gets a more active, progressive treatment through a profile that maintains his most notable features including his mustache, strong chin, and hat.
Among the new elements are the inclusion of an outline representation of the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, an exchange Hey Reb!’s feather with a star design synonymous with Las Vegas, and stylized mountains to further tie the mark to the Southern Nevada region.

As if that wasn’t enough, the school was nice enough to give us one of those infographics that everybody loves so much.

In my opinion, the best part of this logo is the use of negative space when it comes to the star in the logo. I’m also appreciative of how they incorporated the famous Las Vegas sign’s shape into the design. Other than that, the Rebel itself is pretty hard to distinguish from the rest of the logo as it seems like they tried to cram a bunch of elements into one small space.

Overall, it’s definitely not a horrible logo but it could be a little better, in my opinion. However, we’d definitely like to hear what you all think of UNLV’s new logo.