THE BOLD NEW BRAND
Introducing a Complete Re-Imagining of Our Visual Identity
This is an exciting time to be a Jacksonville Dolphin. The moment is right to make a splash; to take our brand to another level, honoring the past while looking to the future with so many exciting developments on the horizon for the University and Jacksonville Athletics.
Dare To Be Bold.
That is our new athletics theme and the attitude we embraced when taking on this project. We knew before we started that our primary logo and our word mark did not match. We knew we wanted to have secondary marks beyond our primary logo to give us some additional tools in our branding tool shed. What we needed to discover was what we wanted to be.
And we know now, we want to be BOLD.
Whether you are coming to Jacksonville University as a student, as a professor, as an administrator or as a fan. You come here to be a part of something. To embrace an experience that is going to impact you. To help build off of a legacy with a new chapter of success. And through that experience, you are going to emerge from it a different person. A stronger person. A better person. A bolder person. So it was in the vein of this theme that we chose the path for our new visual brand identity.
Over the last two years, members of the Athletics Department, representatives from across campus, students and key external constituents came together to develop new logos and word marks. They worked tirelessly to ensure that with these new marks came a new branding mentality. There is intent to bring the Jacksonville community together and challenge the current and prospective student-athletes to leave a lasting legacy.
The reverse arch of our primary logo is a subtle nod to our past achievements, specifically the 1970 Men's basketball team that appeared in the NCAA Title game. Led by Artis Gilmore, one of only five college basketball players in history to average at least 20 points and 20 rebounds over his entire collegiate career. Gilmore was named NCAA Player of the year, led the NCAA in rebounding in his two seasons at Jacksonville, and his career average of 22.7 rebounds per game is still the highest
in NCAA Division I history.
We have purposefully included “Jacksonville” in our new primary logo.
We want to be intentional about building on our association with our city. When we appear on the national stage, we want people to know we who we are and that
we are from Jacksonville.
It was important for us to keep the presence of the Dolphin in our new logo. The fin under the letterforms is a nod to our mascot, acknowledging its importance to our brand.
Inspired by our location on the water, our new JU ligature features a flow created by the serifs at the edge of the letters, the accent color at the bottom of the letters and “the fin” also gives the appearance of a wave at the bottom of the mark. As a school that is located on the river and a few miles from the ocean, it's an authentic representation of who we are and where we are.
In a true connection to our campus, the updated dolphin secondary logo was born from the iconic sculptures in the center of campus. Powerful and rising, this new logo represents the agility, skill and athleticism of our student-athletes.
Who Was Involved?
The rebranding process was conducted over the course of 18 Months starting in February of 2017. During that time input was solicited from a broad range of stakeholders including Alumni, Athletics, Enrollment Management, Faculty,
Office of the President, Phinatics, Staff, Students, Student-Athletes, University Advancement and
University Marketing and Communications.
Jacksonville University Athletics
2800 University Blvd. N.
Jacksonville, FL 32211
