Community Responds to Design Concepts Under Consideration as New University of Hawaii Graphic Identity Mark

Evaluation committee to meet on August 11

More than 650 e-mails and letters were received by the University of Hawaiʻi from the community in response to the six design concepts under consideration as the new graphic identity mark for the university. The design concepts, submitted by the three firms chosen in May 2004 by a 15-member evaluation committee, were made available for viewing and public comment last week.

Approximately 660 responses were received by the August 5 deadline for public comment. Of the 660 responses received, the percentage breakdown* of support for a particular design or category/type of comment received includes:

· Design 3.......................................................18 %

· Design 6.......................................................10 %

· Design 4.........................................................9 %

· Design 5.........................................................6 %

· Design 1.........................................................5 %

· Design 2.........................................................1 %

· None of the above.........................................49 %

· Miscellaneous comments and suggestions........8 %

*Total equals more than 100 % because some responses noted support for two or three designs and so each design received a positive comment score.

The evaluation committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, August 11, to develop a recommendation for the UH Board of Regents. The committee also has the option to reject all designs submitted for consideration.

Comprised of individuals who are knowledgeable in the arts; University of Hawaiʻi students, faculty and staff; and representatives of the business community with experience in identity marketing and merchandising, the committee is led by Chairperson Francis Oda, chairman and CEO of Group 70 International.

In seeking a graphic identity mark that can be utilized system-wide, the university‘s goal is to unify the 10-campus system and demonstrate through this design the breadth and depth of knowledge, opportunity, and diversity that the university offers, as well as the uniqueness of the university and of Hawaiʻi. If a final design is chosen, it will be used in marketing materials system-wide.

The three firms that were chosen—Graphic House of Honolulu, Clarence Lee Design & Associates, Inc. of Honolulu, and Sae Design of Maui—will each be paid $5,000 for their work. If there is a successful firm, it will be paid an additional $5,000 to complete the final design. The $5,000 paid to the three firms for their work and the additional $5,000 to complete a final design, if chosen, is provided from royalties earned by the university from the sale of UH logo merchandise.


BACKGROUND

In the 2002 strategic plan, the university was charged with advancing the unique identities of each individual college while communicating the benefits of one integrated system. The Office of External Affairs and University Relations immediately began examining how each campus and the university system was perceived both internally and externally.

Research showed that UH‘s brand image was fractured with over 150 logos in use system-wide. They also found that the university had no distinct message or theme and that many programs failed to mention their affiliation with UH. Without a consistent brand image, it was nearly impossible for audiences to recognize the values of the university identified by the strategic plan such as access, affordability, excellence, diversity, fairness and equity.

In April 2003, two designs resulting from the initial process to establish a new system-wide identity for the University of Hawaiʻi were withdrawn from consideration in response to community concern. The UH Board of Regents then formed a Task Group on Graphic Identity to develop an action plan for proceeding with the graphic identity project and a process for development of a new UH system logo.