By The Gatepost Editorial Board
Framingham State is undergoing a pivotal moment in rebranding its marketing, which includes redesigning the logo.
Apparently, the strategic enrollment team
thinks prospective students are hungry for breakfast, as one of the proposed new logos looks like a pair of croissants.
The second proposed logo is not designed for students at all - at least not human ones. The oddly placed acorn in the corner of the shield would make anyone wonder if this logo is geared toward increasing our enrollment of squirrels.
Or maybe Framingham State is a university in the magnificent city of Atlantis, as the third pro-
posed logo depicts a Ram that looks more like a seahorse?
Recently, the University marketing team sent out a campus-wide survey asking for feedback on these three logos and for participants to choose one that accurately represents Framingham State’s story.
However, none of these new logos properly represents the richness of Framingham State’s history and its current strengths as an academic institution and community.
They are not bold, sharp, or memorable as our sister universities’ logos are. They show a lack of attention to graphic design. The typography is generic, and the lettering is awkwardly placed. They look like amateur sketches rather than prototypes for a final product.
The University has been working on designing a new logo since it announced its commitment to anti-racism in 2020 as the depiction of an Algonquin Native American on the seal is racist and problematic.
A new logo is a long overdue necessity. But it should be one that the University is proud
of. It should be one that anyone in Massachusetts can point to and think, “That’s Framingham State.”
The first proposed logo depicts two rams locking horns - perhaps to show unity and represent the community of Framingham State. However, without the full image of the two
rams, it is unclear what these two curly figures are. To many who don’t know our mascot is a ram, they could merely be odd-looking rings.
Furthermore, it is widely known that when rams lock horns, they are competing for the attention of a female counterpart, which can last for hours and be gruesome and even deadly.
This doesn’t represent unity.
What message are we trying to send?
The second logo shows a shield with four images: a book, an acorn, a ram, and a star.
This is generic and does not show anything unique about our school. There is not a single
college campus in the United States that does not have books. The star might make sense to represent our most famous alumna, Christa McAullife, but it is so simplistic that this is not clear at all.
And what is the acorn for?
The third logo shows a simplistic side profile of a standing ram. The ram looks proud and confident.
However, the ram design is very different from that which is frequently used to represent us throughout the year at athletic games and engagement fairs - the image of the iconic statue outside of Dwight Hall. This ram looks as if it were created in under five minutes using the popular design application Canva.
Besides, the logo should be different from our mascot. The University has an opportunity to proudly define itself with a new logo that will represent our rich, inclusive history as an academic institution and community. We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for so long, and if we change the logo to something that is generic or misrepresentative of our institution, we will sorely regret it.
Let go of these logos!
The whole point of our original logo is the connection it creates between the state and the University as the state seal and flag include this depiction of an Algonquin Native American.
When the initiative to redesign the logo was first proposed, the goal was to keep this connection alive by reflecting the city of Framingham’s seal, which depicts May Hall.
Having an image of May Hall as our logo would be perfect.
It is one of our oldest buildings on campus.
It is where our community comes together and learns.
Almost every student ends up taking an English course or another general education requirement within the walls of May Hall.
When people see May Hall, they see Framingham State.
They see the history of education.
They see our community.
They see us.
Make May Hall our logo.