USC’s academic prestige
is rapidly rising and the university needed a new logo design just as boring and old-looking
as the most storied institutions’ logos to reflect that prestige. At the same time, USC has adopted strict
identity guidelines to ensure the various schools of USC do not create their own stupid
logos that make the university seem less unified (cough, Roski School of Fine
Arts).
Students and alumni may
miss some things about the old logo, which more prominently featured USC’s color scheme and was
pleasantly arranged. The new logo also
has parts to like such as the school’s shield, awkward spacing, the full name
of the university typed right next to its abbreviation, and the color black.
However, before the
university settled on the Ivy Leaguish logo, it considered a variety
of other options.
1) An anonymous donor(s) generously proposed this design:
2) This logo uses iconic USC imagery:
3) USC has more Olympic medals than any other university. This logo honors that rarely touted fact:
4) This logo was supposed to be both a nod to the past and a look to the future. Or something:
5) This logo was the runner-up. In this day and age, USC is well aware of the importance of social networking, blablabla…
What would your ideal USC logo look like?
Please don’t post anything — that was just a rhetorical flourish to end the article.
