Strengthening Rutgers' Visual Identity

December 8, 2006

Members of the Rutgers Community:

For the past several years, Rutgers has been working to strengthen perceptions of the institution and to clarify its mission and value to the state among the public, policymakers, and members of the university community. Quantitative and qualitative research has told us that while general awareness of Rutgers is high, the university needs to sharpen its messages in order to differentiate itself from the other public universities and colleges in the state.

Improving the way we tell the Rutgers story is a long-term effort with many components. Among them are: increasing coordination among our communications offices; developing materials around key themes that emphasize Rutgers’ distinctive strengths;
changing our advertising policy and promotional practices to more aggressively engage our constituencies; and revamping the Rutgers website to make it a more dynamic tool for advancing Rutgers.

As a first step among these priorities, Rutgers must manage and preserve the integrity of the Rutgers name, which research has shown to be a remarkable asset that we must use to maximum benefit for the sake of institutional pride and unity, alumni affiliation, recruitment, external relations, and fundraising.

We have seen the value of a strong visual identity in the block “R” that adorns windows, doors, cars, T-shirts, and hats across the state and has become emblematic of the pride we feel in our sports teams. In a similar way, we must bring clarity to the way in which we visually represent the entire university and its many integral units.

Today, the Rutgers Board of Governors approved a unified visual identity system, including the establishment of a new logo and informal university seal, which resembles the official seal but can be used more flexibly. The system retains the block R as a spirit mark, broadening its current applications. Of greatest importance, the Board approved a communications approach that ensures coherent and consistent messages about Rutgers’ attributes and provides guidelines, policies, and tools for the proper use of the university’s name, logos, and marks. Please visit http://identity.rutgers.edu to view the new marks and to learn more about the guidelines for their use.

Let me be clear: this is a dramatic shift from past practices, which have implicitly or explicitly permitted a wide range of graphic representation of our name. Well over 150 different logos have been used in recent years, which has led to confusion and diluted our efforts to help people understand all that Rutgers has to offer. Moving forward, we are bringing every campus, school, institute, center, and administrative unit together under a common visual identity that emphasizes our connectedness and distinctiveness as part of Rutgers. While you will start to see some uses of the new visual identity right away, this system will be phased in over time to allow all schools and units the opportunity to make the necessary changes in their materials in a reasonable and cost-effective manner.

Creation of the new visual identity system has been a complex and broadly consultative project. While vice president for University Relations Kim Manning-Lewis and her staff have led the effort, literally hundreds of faculty, staff, students, and alumni throughout the state have been involved in its development. I am particularly grateful to the members of the advisory committees, who contributed many hours and valuable advice to this project over the past year.

I am excited about the new system for its enormous potential to draw us together as a university and present our alumni, policymakers, prospective donors, and our future students with a clearer and stronger sense of the identity and value of this extraordinary university.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey