Athletics Unveils Enhanced Logo

UNF Athletics Logo Sheet (PDF)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – New Look. Same SWOOP!

The University of North Florida unveiled an updated athletic logo in an effort to provide Osprey teams and supporters with a more unified and identifiable mark as the program closes in on its first decade at the NCAA Division I level.

Working in conjunction with LRG (Licensing Resource Group) and Rickabaugh Graphics, UNF Athletic Director Lee Moon and members of the athletic administration staff spent the past eight months refining the existing North Florida logos into a new and distinctive brand for the program.

"We are thrilled with the look of our enhanced logos," said Moon. "The Osprey nickname is unique to collegiate athletics and we were looking at ways to continue growing our brand on the local, regional and national level. This season marks our 10th as a Division I program and we wanted to create a unified logo that would strengthen our recognition in everything from recruiting to marketing. The upgrades we made will allow easier use of our logos on a variety of items."

A marketing partner with North Florida since 2010, LRG helped facilitate the logo enhancement project following a 300 percent increase on royalties of UNF-licensed merchandise since the beginning of the relationship.

"The foundation of any brand is its visual identity," added Brad Coley, university brand representative for LRG. "UNF's new logos will help them stand out from the crowd, while also providing the university with a platform for continued growth."

The changed visual identities are centered on the "North Florida" and "Ospreys" elements along with the Osprey head. A specially designed new font also provides the department with more opportunities to grow the program's brand. In addition, the fine-tuned and user friendly design, highlighted by a more enclosed appearance, allows for use in a wide variety of platforms and applications.

"Everyone at Rickabaugh Graphics is tremendously proud to have created the new UNF athletic word marks as a compliment to the traditional Osprey head logo," Eric Rickabaugh stated. "Wisely, the athletic staff was intent on maintaining UNF's proud tradition and combining that with a look that captures the Osprey's promising future. We are very excited to see the UNF student-athletes compete and achieve great things wearing our new designs. It is certainly the beginning of a proud, new era for the North Florida Ospreys!"

Rickabaugh Graphics has been assisting colleges and universities develop their visual image since the very beginnings of collegiate branding. In 1991, the company created a new athletics look for one of the biggest athletics programs in the nation – The Ohio State University. The result was a powerful, iconic brand that unified the Buckeyes athletics image and realized a one and half million dollar increase in licensing revenue in its first year alone. Rickabaugh Graphics continues to offer its constant branding guidance to the Buckeyes and the Ohio State brand (now internationally recognizable) is always at the top of collegiate merchandising revenue makers.

Since then, Rickabaugh Graphics has become the leader in collegiate branding and has created or updated athletics brands for more than 200 universities including Baylor, VCU, Iowa, Wisconsin, Marquette, North Carolina State, Seton Hall, Duquesne, Abilene Christian and Central Florida. With over twenty-five years in the field, the company is considered the expert at handling the toughest of collegiate athletic branding projects and also at harnessing the creative energy that makes an institution's brand come to life in a way that energizes alumni and fans, deepening their pride in and loyalty to the institution.

The University Bookstore on UNF's campus will have apparel and other merchandise with the new logo in stock by Aug. 1.

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