The University of Hawai‘i hoped that by this time, one company could design one logo that is all things to all campuses. But after thousands of dollars and years of trying, the whole thing fell through once again. Today, it
The University of Hawai‘i hoped that by this time, one company could design one logo that is all things to all campuses. But after thousands of dollars and years of trying, the whole thing fell through once again.
Today, it appears the UH has given up. Earlier this month, the UH decided to stick with its old, familiar seal — at least for the time being.
In its 97 years, the university has never had a logo. Instead, it has always used the familiar green “Malamalama” seal. The iconic rainbow and “crazy H” are officially sports logos only. “It’s complicated,” said Jim
Manke, UH director of public affairs. “Part of the problem — identified each time we go round and round on the logo business — is that there are anywhere from 100 to 150 logos in use on the various campuses.”
The remedy this time, said the UH administration, was to use color in a single design to identify main campuses: Manoa green, Hilo red, West O‘ahu periwinkle.
The winning designs from last year’s competition — which were scrapped almost as soon as they hit the press — employed those unappetizing color schemes to form a nebulous swirling H “spectrum” or a “wave” logo.
During the first competition, Maryland-based firm Robert Rytter & Associates tried to bring together under one symbol all the races, tongues and creeds represented in the system. Instead, the final designs looked like the symbol for a marine biotechnology company.
It meant nothing to anyone except, perhaps, the designers themselves.
Part of the stink over the first logo had to do with money. Starr Seigle Communications got $500,000 to design marketing materials and advertising to attract students and promote the university (although they’ve argued that figure). Another $54,000 went to the Kailua-based Brand Strategy Group, which used surveys and focusgroups to identify what makes the university unique and how best to market it. That data will be used to design the next logo.
But folks cried foul when Rytter — with no island ties — got $74,000 to design a lousy logo. Indeed, the firm won the contract over designers such as Honolulu’s Clarence Lee and New York-based (but Punahoueducated) Ann Harakawa. Rytter’s submissions were posted on April 23, 2003. A week later, they were dismissed by the public and the UH administration. The Honolulu Advertiser recently reported that $142,637 has been spent since 2002 on the hunt for a new UH logo.
Bottom line: the UH has spent a lot of money.
Meanwhile, the man in charge of the project, then-UH Vice President of External Affairs Paul Costello, found himself defending a non-sequitur: “We didn’t just come up with a logo and say, ‘Here’s two logos that we think are disgusting, let’s put them out to the public and let’s have them hate them,'”Costello told a local news daily last May. By December, Costello was on a plane to Palo Alto as Stanford University’s School of Medicine’s PR chief.
As for the most recent UH logo debacle, one competitor, a local Hawai‘i artist who prefered to remain anonymous, said that the new process — like the old — was creatively stultifying because only one design could be chosen.
That formality meant that good elements of losing designs did not make it to the table; that the final design lacked “synergy,” he said.
Still, if UH has learned anything at all, it’s that swirling waves are out. Ironically, “retro” is again hip, and the venerable UH sports rainbow is a hot commodity. “The old rainbow (logo) is so popular, we can’t keep it in stock,” said Malu, salesperson at Bailey’s Antiques and Aloha Shirts. Locals and tourists alike snap up vintage UH caps, jackets and T-shirts at the Kapahulu boutique.
So why not revive the rainbow? “(It) is too emblematic of the Manoa campus and its athletics department,” said Carolyn Tanaka, UH spokesperson. It’s also the emblem for Gay Pride. That connection might have been one of the reasons the rainbow was pulled from the football team’s identity — and very successfully, too. Board of Regent member Kitty Lagareta said she hoped the nominating committee wouldn’t close the door on any idea, even if it meant finding a way to combine the best elements of multiple designs.
“Look, what we ultimately want is a great logo,” she said. “I don’t want us to close the door on anything.” Since the old logo is back, many are hoping that the UH will close the door on the whole thing.
