Opinion BY Clinton Duncan

Old School goes New School, Sort of

Established in 1850, the University of Sydney is Australia’s first and oldest University. Here we have what’s known as a “sandstone university,” — an unofficial moniker attached to those institutions regarded as the older, and more prestigious — it’s like using “Ivy League” as a shorthand for privilege, class, establishment, achievement, etc. In a rather long-distance collaboration, the University was rebranded last year/early this year by Lippman Hearne in Chicago, who created the strategy and logo, and Moon Sydney, who handled the identity.

The identity has been refreshed in two parts: the University’s logo, a crest, was redesigned as part of the strategy and research by Lippman Hearne, while the wider identity around it and the associated implementation was handled rather ably by Moon. Unfortunately it’s quite apparent in the work itself, a two-step process, as the crest is nothing to get excited about, while the identity system is.

Although it’s a perfectly acceptable crest, I can’t help but feel it’s lacking a certain amount of — forgive the use of the expression, X-Factor — perhaps the choice of typography, the rather dowdy Scala, exacerbates the issue. The previous iteration, with all it’s pompous regality, spoke very much of a privileged, almost royal institution, reflective of a piece of 1800s England in the middle of Sydney (a trip to the University’s famous gothic architecture surrounded quad gets the point across). Whilst the crest has most definitely been neatened up, it’s not nearly in the same league as the previously reviewed crest of the Royal Opera House.

Lippman Hearne’s other contribution was the new brand strategy, termed “Active Minds.” Here’s a writeup from their strategy:

A life of the mind is not an individual pursuit, nor does it occur in an ivory tower. It is lived out actively and energetically in this world, where intellectual rigour ignites passion and a belief in what is possible. Our legacy is one of liberation and transformation; of active minds seeking the engagement of others; of original and exceptional pursuits and competitive debate; of individuals enabled to make their greatest contributions; of facing the difficult questions in order to impact upon our world.

From this, Moon have created a visual identity that is both lively and staid, conservative and progressive — the key to the system is a device labelled “The Shape of Thought” (designers can’t stop themselves putting stupid names on things…):

At the core of this concept is the shape of thought; the flourishing of minds and ideas. It establishes the University as the starting point for idea generation, research and education. It’s a magnetic and memorable visual language which celebrates ideas and where they come from. It brings to life the activity and energy of individuals and characters who are the community of the university, expressing what’s possible and leads us to somewhere progressive and beyond.

Well I’m not sure about any of of those grandiose terms for colored boxes. In other words, there’s scope for endless variation within the defined system for the University’s web of inter-related faculties, schools, campuses, research groups, services and products, the sort of multi-layered complexity that can be a difficult hurdle to a branding program. The well thought-through brand architecture that assigns different colours and Shapes of Thought (sorry, expandey-boxy-thingie) to these different entities, the simplicity of the device allows a degree of stretch to accommodate the entire gamut of communications this sort of organisation requires.

The device can be used as colour blocks to hold text and headlines, but even nicer is the approach of building thought bubble like arrangements with photography. The formula can be boiled down to “logo + imagery of campus life + image of student in deep thought, wistfully staring off into an unknown future rich with possibility.” (Some might retch at this photography and compare it to the approach at Unhappy Hipsters or The Sartorialist, but not me — those sites are much better).

A white painted bicycle, I mean, really?

This identity walks a fine line, feeling avant-garde but still trustworthy and dignified. Thanks to the excellent photo library also created by Moon, the approach looks lively and, err, active, rather than awkward or clumsy. It’s entirely appropriate for an institution with one foot in a rich, heritage filled past, and another foot stepping towards the future.

NOTE: Yes, it does look like a certain accounting firm reviewed last year. But before the hordes of “rip-off!” comments, let me point out the work was mainly done in 2009, and was launched in early 2010. If you want to attack someone, blame me for not reviewing it sooner. My bad.

Thanks to Tim for the tip.

Many thanks to our ADV @ UnderConsideration Partners