Following a months-long process aimed at reinvigorating their athletics brand, The Citadel Bulldogs unveiled new logos and wordmarks on Wednesday afternoon.
The Citadel’s new look was created by Joe Bosack & Co, a Pennsylvania-based branding company whose past clients include Boise State, Georgia, James Madison, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, North Dakota State, UNLV and Xavier, as well as numerous professional teams, college conferences and the NCAA.
“This is a place that is steeped in tradition,” creative director Joe Bosack told SportsLogos.net. “From an initial client brief, we felt that it was critical to acknowledge that strong sense of tradition in the development of updated and refreshed athletics marks and logos.
“It was also important to hear from as many stakeholder groups and stakeholders as possible in the discovery phase of the project. This was accomplished through a dedicated Facebook page where alumni, students, faculty, staff, and the community could post comments.
“Additionally, we organized listening sessions with representatives of each of these groups, and then shared initial designs with the same groups. This feedback informed changes, refinements, and decisions along the way until the client’s project managers took the final designs to senior leadership and the board for approval.”
Taking cues from old athletic photos found in the school archives, the new primary logo is a stylized “C” that features curved corners inspired by the Moorish architecture found throughout campus. It also features a star in the middle, which represents various achievements in the military ranks.
The new design also yielded a Bulldog logo that is unlike any other in college athletics, despite the challenge of it being a fairly common nickname throughout college athletics.
“There are lots of Bulldogs out there, so it was important to avoid the typical and expected, such as a mouthful of teeth and a spiked collar,” Bosack said. “We worked to find the elements that are unique and ownable to The Citadel, such as the determined and purposeful expression in the face of the dog and the distinctive collar.
“The collar of the Bulldog logo is the same collar on many of The Citadel corps of cadets’ military uniforms. The collar makes this Bulldog distinctive to the college and its students and allows the characteristics of the bulldog – its strength, determination, courage and sense of mission – to represent the aspirations of the students.”
The final piece of the redesign is a script wordmark that will be used exclusively for baseball
“It is designed to pay homage to The Citadel’s 1990 team that achieved national notoriety and played in the College World Series,” Bosack said.
Located in Charleston, South Carolina, The Citadel is one of just six senior military colleges in the United States, joining Norwich, North Georgia, Texas A&M, Virginia Military Institute and Virginia Tech. The Bulldogs have 16 varsity sports teams that compete in the Southern Conference at the Division I level.
Photos courtesy of The Citadel and Joe Bosack & Co.
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