The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

ODU Logo History

^ This is an interesting study

Old Dominion has a branding problem. We have great colors and a strong name, "Old Dominion." That sounds much more prestigious than some directional school. And yet, our logos have minimal national recognition.

The logo styling which we debuted in 2002 is not a sharp look.

If you look at the 3 primary logos we've had (race track, food lion, and pawing lion) the current one is the worst from a sports logo design perspective. There is too much being conveyed and it looks more like a wall painting than a primary logo. Between the lion, wearing the crown, swiping his paw above the long text "Old Dominion." It just doesn't work. I think the racetrack is actually a pretty strong option. I also like the Food Lion logo. We need something with visual recognizability.

Out of our 2002 style logo set, the strongest from a branding perspective is the chef hat over "ODU" logo. If we can't have the racetrack or the food lion logo, at least give us a crown "ODU" variant that doesn't look so cartoonish and over stylized. Reimagine the chef hat!

Interestingly, this set of logos is representative of the times. The early 2000s were a dark time in sports logo creation. Take a look at the logo history of these familiar foes. You'll notice that all 3 released an analogous logo to our 2002 logo set around the same time. The difference is that all 3 of these schools have scrapped that generation of logos since 2010. We're the only one that hasn't.

App St. Logo History
JMU Logo History
VCU Logo History

This makes it pretty clear that ODU is past due for a rebrand.

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Our current chef's hat logo is uninspiring and boring. I wish ODU would go bolder with the primary logo and put more emphasis on the crown or the lion as part of the logo.

We are missing branding opportunities with our lion and crown being the dominant focal point with our logo.

I actually think from a sports branding perspective the current logo suite is the best and it’s not even close. I agree we are due for a refresh, but I wouldn’t stray too far from where we are. The racetrack is cool, but there are no variations on it and it won’t sell T-shirts. It’s really more of a stylized type treatment than a true logo. Food lion never became synonymous with ODU and with no type it became worthless as a brand emblem. But it looked nice. A bit stuffy for athletics though IMO. Whatever our logo is has to incorporate the name, the crown and Big Blue. I agree that there is a bit much going on with the paw lion, but the suite with the crown, shield etc is good overall. I wish we would consolidate the athletic look across campus and into our academic branding too. If you want to discuss bad logos look at academic logo. It’s way worse than the athletics one. I’d start there first.

(04-05-2024 08:07 PM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  Our current chef's hat logo is uninspiring and boring. I wish ODU would go bolder with the primary logo and put more emphasis on the crown or the lion as part of the logo.

We are missing branding opportunities with our lion and crown being the dominant focal point with our logo.

? This seems contradictory to me.

They aren’t capitalizing on the awesome name. “Old Dominion” is unique, As is “Monarchs”. Just having ODU w the chefs hat is weak. Both the school name and mascot name are cool and different and they should take advantage of this. I guess this relates to the jerseys more than the logo but you get my point.

(04-05-2024 10:20 PM)monarx Wrote:  I actually think from a sports branding perspective the current logo suite is the best and it’s not even close. I agree we are due for a refresh, but I wouldn’t stray too far from where we are. The racetrack is cool, but there are no variations on it and it won’t sell T-shirts. It’s really more of a stylized type treatment than a true logo. Food lion never became synonymous with ODU and with no type it became worthless as a brand emblem. But it looked nice. A bit stuffy for athletics though IMO. Whatever our logo is has to incorporate the name, the crown and Big Blue. I agree that there is a bit much going on with the paw lion, but the suite with the crown, shield etc is good overall. I wish we would consolidate the athletic look across campus and into our academic branding too. If you want to discuss bad logos look at academic logo. It’s way worse than the athletics one. I’d start there first.

I know you have some expertise here, but I completely disagree with your thoughts on the current suite. We don't have a single simple recognizable logo. The ODU font with the crown logo, and the one where they just ripped the top off of it screams small time. It looks like a mash up of cartoon and graffiti. The lion logo has so much going on that you can't really process any of it. The racetrack is fun as a retro option, but doesn't exactly scream professional.

For me it still comes down to this. Professionals are the most likely people to wear your brand around town. They are going to wear it on a nice golf shirt most of the time, and there is not a single logo that caters to that professional look.

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(04-06-2024 09:21 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(04-05-2024 10:20 PM)monarx Wrote:  I actually think from a sports branding perspective the current logo suite is the best and it’s not even close. I agree we are due for a refresh, but I wouldn’t stray too far from where we are. The racetrack is cool, but there are no variations on it and it won’t sell T-shirts. It’s really more of a stylized type treatment than a true logo. Food lion never became synonymous with ODU and with no type it became worthless as a brand emblem. But it looked nice. A bit stuffy for athletics though IMO. Whatever our logo is has to incorporate the name, the crown and Big Blue. I agree that there is a bit much going on with the paw lion, but the suite with the crown, shield etc is good overall. I wish we would consolidate the athletic look across campus and into our academic branding too. If you want to discuss bad logos look at academic logo. It’s way worse than the athletics one. I’d start there first.

I know you have some expertise here, but I completely disagree with your thoughts on the current suite. We don't have a single simple recognizable logo. The ODU font with the crown logo, and the one where they just ripped the top off of it screams small time. It looks like a mash up of cartoon and graffiti. The lion logo has so much going on that you can't really process any of it. The racetrack is fun as a retro option, but doesn't exactly scream professional.

For me it still comes down to this. Professionals are the most likely people to wear your brand around town. They are going to wear it on a nice golf shirt most of the time, and there is not a single logo that caters to that professional look.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I’d say what you describe is the baseball logo. Which I like. It’s just different from everything else we have. I’m all for updating what we have. Just hope we don’t start completely over. People build affinity with brands and a wholesale change will lose that. Look at what JMU has done, or brands like Pepsi… smaller but more frequent updates over the years.

I think the Pride of ODU NIL logo nails it.



Classy and simple lion silhouette, beautiful shield, retains the recognizable crown. The metallic sheen is a nice touch. It could be simplified, because it's slightly busy for our purposes and not really meant to be displayed without the "ODU" text, as-is. More specifically, the lion is too far to the left and the misalignment would look bad without the text. However, something very similar to this concept is what I feel strongly in favor of.


PS: I never got over the crappy state logo with the letters visible in the lower left from the baby's-first-photoshop-quality copy/paste job. If you recall, they originally released a version where the letters were more visible - but changed the southwest border to be squiggly to help mask it a little bit after some of us gave feedback. *grumble grumble grumble*.....

(04-05-2024 10:20 PM)monarx Wrote:  I actually think from a sports branding perspective the current logo suite is the best and it’s not even close. I agree we are due for a refresh, but I wouldn’t stray too far from where we are. The racetrack is cool, but there are no variations on it and it won’t sell T-shirts. It’s really more of a stylized type treatment than a true logo. Food lion never became synonymous with ODU and with no type it became worthless as a brand emblem. But it looked nice. A bit stuffy for athletics though IMO. Whatever our logo is has to incorporate the name, the crown and Big Blue. I agree that there is a bit much going on with the paw lion, but the suite with the crown, shield etc is good overall. I wish we would consolidate the athletic look across campus and into our academic branding too. If you want to discuss bad logos look at academic logo. It’s way worse than the athletics one. I’d start there first.

As Monarchblue said, agree to disagree. The current suite is awful.

(04-06-2024 09:59 AM)Monarch_Pride Wrote:  PS: I never got over the crappy state logo with the letters visible in the lower left from the baby's-first-photoshop-quality copy/paste job. If you recall, they originally released a version where the letters were more visible - but changed the southwest border to be squiggly to help mask it a little bit after some of us gave feedback. *grumble grumble grumble*.....

This logo is an atrocity in general. The letters in SW VA are just icing on the cake.

(04-05-2024 10:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-05-2024 08:07 PM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  Our current chef's hat logo is uninspiring and boring. I wish ODU would go bolder with the primary logo and put more emphasis on the crown or the lion as part of the logo.

We are missing branding opportunities with our lion and crown being the dominant focal point with our logo.

? This seems contradictory to me.

These "ODU" logos stink to me. The chef's hat looks smooshed on top of the primary ODU logo. The crown on top of it could be bigger, and more elaborate looking. The current crown really does not even look like a legit crown to me.

The second logo of "ODU" looks even worse and looks like something I could draw up on Microsoft Paint. Nothing flashy stands out about it.

(04-06-2024 09:59 AM)Monarch_Pride Wrote:  I think the Pride of ODU NIL logo nails it.



Classy and simple lion silhouette, beautiful shield, retains the recognizable crown. The metallic sheen is a nice touch. It could be simplified, because it's slightly busy for our purposes and not really meant to be displayed without the "ODU" text, as-is. More specifically, the lion is too far to the left and the misalignment would look bad without the text. However, something very similar to this concept is what I feel strongly in favor of.


PS: I never got over the crappy state logo with the letters visible in the lower left from the baby's-first-photoshop-quality copy/paste job. If you recall, they originally released a version where the letters were more visible - but changed the southwest border to be squiggly to help mask it a little bit after some of us gave feedback. *grumble grumble grumble*.....

May look good on the basketball uniform pants or under monarchs.

(04-06-2024 09:50 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-06-2024 09:21 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(04-05-2024 10:20 PM)monarx Wrote:  I actually think from a sports branding perspective the current logo suite is the best and it’s not even close. I agree we are due for a refresh, but I wouldn’t stray too far from where we are. The racetrack is cool, but there are no variations on it and it won’t sell T-shirts. It’s really more of a stylized type treatment than a true logo. Food lion never became synonymous with ODU and with no type it became worthless as a brand emblem. But it looked nice. A bit stuffy for athletics though IMO. Whatever our logo is has to incorporate the name, the crown and Big Blue. I agree that there is a bit much going on with the paw lion, but the suite with the crown, shield etc is good overall. I wish we would consolidate the athletic look across campus and into our academic branding too. If you want to discuss bad logos look at academic logo. It’s way worse than the athletics one. I’d start there first.

I know you have some expertise here, but I completely disagree with your thoughts on the current suite. We don't have a single simple recognizable logo. The ODU font with the crown logo, and the one where they just ripped the top off of it screams small time. It looks like a mash up of cartoon and graffiti. The lion logo has so much going on that you can't really process any of it. The racetrack is fun as a retro option, but doesn't exactly scream professional.

For me it still comes down to this. Professionals are the most likely people to wear your brand around town. They are going to wear it on a nice golf shirt most of the time, and there is not a single logo that caters to that professional look.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

I’d say what you describe is the baseball logo. Which I like. It’s just different from everything else we have. I’m all for updating what we have. Just hope we don’t start completely over. People build affinity with brands and a wholesale change will lose that. Look at what JMU has done, or brands like Pepsi… smaller but more frequent updates over the years.

I could live with the baseball logo, except you can't get it on anything.

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Still waiting for the Old Dominion/The Old Ones crossover logo.

A lot of people have gripes on the "chef hat" logo but I think its the best of the current bunch. it looks great on our football helmets, great in center court/center field, and looks great on a hat or on a t-shirt. I even have the sticker on my hard hat at work. I do love that the athletic department has pivoted to feature that logo over the bear lion or even the diagonal version of the chefs hat that seemed to die out in the early 2010s. It is our own identity and has been synonymous with our atheltics at least since I went to ODU.

The shield is a great logo but the problem with it is that it doesn't have our identity to it. We are not a national brand, no one will look at that and say "oh yeah that's Old Dominion". Schools like Penn State, Michigan State, Clemson, etc don't need a letter for the primary logo for people to know who they are because they've been established in the national media for decades.

The full bear lion is a bit much and I can't get over the fact that whoever came up with it literally just stuck the ODU lion face over a bear. That is an absolute sin in my eyes.

The racetrack is a cool throwback but is completely outdated in 2024. You can't really expand on it and trying to incorporate a crown or a monarch theme to it wouldn't be easy.

Food lion logo also is outdated but would look great for alternate looks. I would like to see it on a gothic alternate version of our football uniforms, to enhance the royalty of our branding, but nowhere near a primary logo.

And for the love of god, as awesome as the baseball logo is, that is all it is. It works great because of how tied it is to the team and using it as a primary logo across all sports just wouldn't seem right. Could it be expanded to more merch and fan gear? Yes but that is a seperate issue all in itself.


In the end, I really don't think a full rebrand is needed. I think the ODU "chef hat" is a great look and doesn't really need "fixing". If the issue is with the font of the letters, I can see that. Maybe there is a happy medium where the logo sets has a cleaner font that isn't as cartoony as it is now, but I would keep the crown. It's been part of our branding since the beginning and according to the logo website that was linked to earlier in the chat by Fatalisk, the current crown has been in the rotation since 1982, with the only changes being adding a "shine" element to it. JMU got it right with their "JMU" lettering back in the 80s and haven't had to change it pretty much at all since it's debut, and App with the outlined block "A" is great too. If we HAD to change and upgrade our logos, I wouldn't change much, but would clean up the lion so its not a freaking bear wearing a mask, and clean up the font, and maybe incorporate a new logo into the mix with the new elements.

(04-09-2024 08:50 AM)MonGNARch Wrote:  A lot of people have gripes on the "chef hat" logo but I think its the best of the current bunch. it looks great on our football helmets, great in center court/center field, and looks great on a hat or on a t-shirt. I even have the sticker on my hard hat at work. I do love that the athletic department has pivoted to feature that logo over the bear lion or even the diagonal version of the chefs hat that seemed to die out in the early 2010s. It is our own identity and has been synonymous with our atheltics at least since I went to ODU.

The shield is a great logo but the problem with it is that it doesn't have our identity to it. We are not a national brand, no one will look at that and say "oh yeah that's Old Dominion". Schools like Penn State, Michigan State, Clemson, etc don't need a letter for the primary logo for people to know who they are because they've been established in the national media for decades.

The full bear lion is a bit much and I can't get over the fact that whoever came up with it literally just stuck the ODU lion face over a bear. That is an absolute sin in my eyes.

The racetrack is a cool throwback but is completely outdated in 2024. You can't really expand on it and trying to incorporate a crown or a monarch theme to it wouldn't be easy.

Food lion logo also is outdated but would look great for alternate looks. I would like to see it on a gothic alternate version of our football uniforms, to enhance the royalty of our branding, but nowhere near a primary logo.

And for the love of god, as awesome as the baseball logo is, that is all it is. It works great because of how tied it is to the team and using it as a primary logo across all sports just wouldn't seem right. Could it be expanded to more merch and fan gear? Yes but that is a seperate issue all in itself.


In the end, I really don't think a full rebrand is needed. I think the ODU "chef hat" is a great look and doesn't really need "fixing". If the issue is with the font of the letters, I can see that. Maybe there is a happy medium where the logo sets has a cleaner font that isn't as cartoony as it is now, but I would keep the crown. It's been part of our branding since the beginning and according to the logo website that was linked to earlier in the chat by Fatalisk, the current crown has been in the rotation since 1982, with the only changes being adding a "shine" element to it. JMU got it right with their "JMU" lettering back in the 80s and haven't had to change it pretty much at all since it's debut, and App with the outlined block "A" is great too. If we HAD to change and upgrade our logos, I wouldn't change much, but would clean up the lion so its not a freaking bear wearing a mask, and clean up the font, and maybe incorporate a new logo into the mix with the new elements.

Herein lies the problem to me. You are young, and you like most of the logos, which is great on one front, the problem is that they do not provide anything that appeals to the older consumer, for whom these bubble letter logos and cartoonish character looks are not ideal. They need to be able to cater to both. As I have said previously, you are going to sell most of your higher end merch to older fans and alums who want to wear gear to work, the golf course or a dinner out, and ODU's branding does not cater to that lifestyle at all.

And FYI, I am not that old. In my 40s. So, its not like I am an elderly person that just hates everything new, I just know my limitations when it comes to not trying too look like I'm in my 20s anymore lol.

(04-09-2024 09:56 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(04-09-2024 08:50 AM)MonGNARch Wrote:  A lot of people have gripes on the "chef hat" logo but I think its the best of the current bunch. it looks great on our football helmets, great in center court/center field, and looks great on a hat or on a t-shirt. I even have the sticker on my hard hat at work. I do love that the athletic department has pivoted to feature that logo over the bear lion or even the diagonal version of the chefs hat that seemed to die out in the early 2010s. It is our own identity and has been synonymous with our atheltics at least since I went to ODU.

The shield is a great logo but the problem with it is that it doesn't have our identity to it. We are not a national brand, no one will look at that and say "oh yeah that's Old Dominion". Schools like Penn State, Michigan State, Clemson, etc don't need a letter for the primary logo for people to know who they are because they've been established in the national media for decades.

The full bear lion is a bit much and I can't get over the fact that whoever came up with it literally just stuck the ODU lion face over a bear. That is an absolute sin in my eyes.

The racetrack is a cool throwback but is completely outdated in 2024. You can't really expand on it and trying to incorporate a crown or a monarch theme to it wouldn't be easy.

Food lion logo also is outdated but would look great for alternate looks. I would like to see it on a gothic alternate version of our football uniforms, to enhance the royalty of our branding, but nowhere near a primary logo.

And for the love of god, as awesome as the baseball logo is, that is all it is. It works great because of how tied it is to the team and using it as a primary logo across all sports just wouldn't seem right. Could it be expanded to more merch and fan gear? Yes but that is a seperate issue all in itself.


In the end, I really don't think a full rebrand is needed. I think the ODU "chef hat" is a great look and doesn't really need "fixing". If the issue is with the font of the letters, I can see that. Maybe there is a happy medium where the logo sets has a cleaner font that isn't as cartoony as it is now, but I would keep the crown. It's been part of our branding since the beginning and according to the logo website that was linked to earlier in the chat by Fatalisk, the current crown has been in the rotation since 1982, with the only changes being adding a "shine" element to it. JMU got it right with their "JMU" lettering back in the 80s and haven't had to change it pretty much at all since it's debut, and App with the outlined block "A" is great too. If we HAD to change and upgrade our logos, I wouldn't change much, but would clean up the lion so its not a freaking bear wearing a mask, and clean up the font, and maybe incorporate a new logo into the mix with the new elements.

Herein lies the problem to me. You are young, and you like most of the logos, which is great on one front, the problem is that they do not provide anything that appeals to the older consumer, for whom these bubble letter logos and cartoonish character looks are not ideal. They need to be able to cater to both. As I have said previously, you are going to sell most of your higher end merch to older fans and alums who want to wear gear to work, the golf course or a dinner out, and ODU's branding does not cater to that lifestyle at all.

And FYI, I am not that old. In my 40s. So, its not like I am an elderly person that just hates everything new, I just know my limitations when it comes to not trying too look like I'm in my 20s anymore lol.

I would think the athletics logo first and foremost needs to cater to students and prospective students (ie: youth), and then alumni. And while I dont have the data to back it up either, my inclination would be that most of that apparel is being sold to students who wear it on campus and on weekends, and to alumni who wear it to athletic events. I do know we saw a huge uptick in apparel sales when football started. So I think there is reason to think that is the major audience for athletics logos. Not that the golf course polo isn't important, but just thinking that's a secondary audience. The chefs hat isn't ideal on a golf polo, but that's one item out of a bunch of others that it does fairly work well for. Football helmets being one of them.

(04-09-2024 10:38 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-09-2024 09:56 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(04-09-2024 08:50 AM)MonGNARch Wrote:  A lot of people have gripes on the "chef hat" logo but I think its the best of the current bunch. it looks great on our football helmets, great in center court/center field, and looks great on a hat or on a t-shirt. I even have the sticker on my hard hat at work. I do love that the athletic department has pivoted to feature that logo over the bear lion or even the diagonal version of the chefs hat that seemed to die out in the early 2010s. It is our own identity and has been synonymous with our atheltics at least since I went to ODU.

The shield is a great logo but the problem with it is that it doesn't have our identity to it. We are not a national brand, no one will look at that and say "oh yeah that's Old Dominion". Schools like Penn State, Michigan State, Clemson, etc don't need a letter for the primary logo for people to know who they are because they've been established in the national media for decades.

The full bear lion is a bit much and I can't get over the fact that whoever came up with it literally just stuck the ODU lion face over a bear. That is an absolute sin in my eyes.

The racetrack is a cool throwback but is completely outdated in 2024. You can't really expand on it and trying to incorporate a crown or a monarch theme to it wouldn't be easy.

Food lion logo also is outdated but would look great for alternate looks. I would like to see it on a gothic alternate version of our football uniforms, to enhance the royalty of our branding, but nowhere near a primary logo.

And for the love of god, as awesome as the baseball logo is, that is all it is. It works great because of how tied it is to the team and using it as a primary logo across all sports just wouldn't seem right. Could it be expanded to more merch and fan gear? Yes but that is a seperate issue all in itself.


In the end, I really don't think a full rebrand is needed. I think the ODU "chef hat" is a great look and doesn't really need "fixing". If the issue is with the font of the letters, I can see that. Maybe there is a happy medium where the logo sets has a cleaner font that isn't as cartoony as it is now, but I would keep the crown. It's been part of our branding since the beginning and according to the logo website that was linked to earlier in the chat by Fatalisk, the current crown has been in the rotation since 1982, with the only changes being adding a "shine" element to it. JMU got it right with their "JMU" lettering back in the 80s and haven't had to change it pretty much at all since it's debut, and App with the outlined block "A" is great too. If we HAD to change and upgrade our logos, I wouldn't change much, but would clean up the lion so its not a freaking bear wearing a mask, and clean up the font, and maybe incorporate a new logo into the mix with the new elements.

Herein lies the problem to me. You are young, and you like most of the logos, which is great on one front, the problem is that they do not provide anything that appeals to the older consumer, for whom these bubble letter logos and cartoonish character looks are not ideal. They need to be able to cater to both. As I have said previously, you are going to sell most of your higher end merch to older fans and alums who want to wear gear to work, the golf course or a dinner out, and ODU's branding does not cater to that lifestyle at all.

And FYI, I am not that old. In my 40s. So, its not like I am an elderly person that just hates everything new, I just know my limitations when it comes to not trying too look like I'm in my 20s anymore lol.

I would think the athletics logo first and foremost needs to cater to students and prospective students (ie: youth), and then alumni. And while I dont have the data to back it up either, my inclination would be that most of that apparel is being sold to students who wear it on campus and on weekends, and to alumni who wear it to athletic events. I do know we saw a huge uptick in apparel sales when football started. So I think there is reason to think that is the major audience for athletics logos. Not that the golf course polo isn't important, but just thinking that's a secondary audience. The chefs hat isn't ideal on a golf polo, but that's one item out of a bunch of others that it does fairly work well for. Football helmets being one of them.

To each their own I guess. I own a golf polo with the chefs hat on it and think it looks great, and when I've seen coaches like HCMJ and Bobby Wilder wear them I think it looks great too. But I have also been very vocal on these boards about my love for it so I could just be biased lol

(04-09-2024 11:35 AM)MonGNARch Wrote:  

(04-09-2024 10:38 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-09-2024 09:56 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(04-09-2024 08:50 AM)MonGNARch Wrote:  A lot of people have gripes on the "chef hat" logo but I think its the best of the current bunch. it looks great on our football helmets, great in center court/center field, and looks great on a hat or on a t-shirt. I even have the sticker on my hard hat at work. I do love that the athletic department has pivoted to feature that logo over the bear lion or even the diagonal version of the chefs hat that seemed to die out in the early 2010s. It is our own identity and has been synonymous with our atheltics at least since I went to ODU.

The shield is a great logo but the problem with it is that it doesn't have our identity to it. We are not a national brand, no one will look at that and say "oh yeah that's Old Dominion". Schools like Penn State, Michigan State, Clemson, etc don't need a letter for the primary logo for people to know who they are because they've been established in the national media for decades.

The full bear lion is a bit much and I can't get over the fact that whoever came up with it literally just stuck the ODU lion face over a bear. That is an absolute sin in my eyes.

The racetrack is a cool throwback but is completely outdated in 2024. You can't really expand on it and trying to incorporate a crown or a monarch theme to it wouldn't be easy.

Food lion logo also is outdated but would look great for alternate looks. I would like to see it on a gothic alternate version of our football uniforms, to enhance the royalty of our branding, but nowhere near a primary logo.

And for the love of god, as awesome as the baseball logo is, that is all it is. It works great because of how tied it is to the team and using it as a primary logo across all sports just wouldn't seem right. Could it be expanded to more merch and fan gear? Yes but that is a seperate issue all in itself.


In the end, I really don't think a full rebrand is needed. I think the ODU "chef hat" is a great look and doesn't really need "fixing". If the issue is with the font of the letters, I can see that. Maybe there is a happy medium where the logo sets has a cleaner font that isn't as cartoony as it is now, but I would keep the crown. It's been part of our branding since the beginning and according to the logo website that was linked to earlier in the chat by Fatalisk, the current crown has been in the rotation since 1982, with the only changes being adding a "shine" element to it. JMU got it right with their "JMU" lettering back in the 80s and haven't had to change it pretty much at all since it's debut, and App with the outlined block "A" is great too. If we HAD to change and upgrade our logos, I wouldn't change much, but would clean up the lion so its not a freaking bear wearing a mask, and clean up the font, and maybe incorporate a new logo into the mix with the new elements.

Herein lies the problem to me. You are young, and you like most of the logos, which is great on one front, the problem is that they do not provide anything that appeals to the older consumer, for whom these bubble letter logos and cartoonish character looks are not ideal. They need to be able to cater to both. As I have said previously, you are going to sell most of your higher end merch to older fans and alums who want to wear gear to work, the golf course or a dinner out, and ODU's branding does not cater to that lifestyle at all.

And FYI, I am not that old. In my 40s. So, its not like I am an elderly person that just hates everything new, I just know my limitations when it comes to not trying too look like I'm in my 20s anymore lol.

I would think the athletics logo first and foremost needs to cater to students and prospective students (ie: youth), and then alumni. And while I dont have the data to back it up either, my inclination would be that most of that apparel is being sold to students who wear it on campus and on weekends, and to alumni who wear it to athletic events. I do know we saw a huge uptick in apparel sales when football started. So I think there is reason to think that is the major audience for athletics logos. Not that the golf course polo isn't important, but just thinking that's a secondary audience. The chefs hat isn't ideal on a golf polo, but that's one item out of a bunch of others that it does fairly work well for. Football helmets being one of them.

To each their own I guess. I own a golf polo with the chefs hat on it and think it looks great, and when I've seen coaches like HCMJ and Bobby Wilder wear them I think it looks great too. But I have also been very vocal on these boards about my love for it so I could just be biased lol

Lol, that is my whole point. You like the look which is great, but you are young and that is only one audience. We can have both. You can cater to young and old. Most schools do this, ODU does not. All I am saying is there needs to be A logo that appeals to a more traditional taste. Just one will do, and then actually put it on the types of apparel that people with that taste wear.

I’m in my 50’s and I love the chef hat logo. I got a closet full of them… that is all, carry on