Alma Mater Alterations

My proud alma mater, Davidson College, unveiled today a new set of "spirit marks" (a.k.a. logos) that will debut this upcoming athletic season. I tend to be rather conservative when it comes to these sorts of changes, so needless to say I was initially rather disappointed with the new look. But after further thought and examination, I tend to have somewhat softened my stance on the changes. I thought I'd offer my thoughts on the various changes and since Davidson insisted on assigning me grades for four years I thought it's about time I returned the favor.

Labeling: F

The name "spirit marks" is an absolutely ridiculous phrase. What's wrong with the word "logo"? "Spirit marks" sounds like a corny name for face painted paw prints at a junior high pep rally. I also don't get the idea for having multiple "spirit marks" in addition to a "youth spirit mark," but I can live with multiple logos- JUST CALL THEM "LOGOS".

"Primary Spirit Mark": B

The "primary spirit mark" of the Wildcat face on a diamond background actually isn't terrible. It pays homage to the old logo, which seemed to be generally well-liked. I like keeping the diamond background and I agree that the old Wildcat probably was due for an upgrade (the old one looked it came straight out of Microsoft Word's clip art). The new Wildcat is a little cartoonish for my taste and seems slightly less intimidating than the old one. Still, it could have been worse. Also, I'm not sure while there are two different colors for the diamond background. I actually prefer the black background with this particular Wildcat over the traditional red diamond. Overall, not bad.

"Secondary Spirit Mark": A-

The secondary logo is a "Davidson D" with claw marks through it. Using the first letter of a school's name is a classic collegiate logo look, and I like the effect of the claw marks. While I was initially ambivalent towards the two-tone color scheme and the outlining, both features have grown on me with further consideration. The logo looks fine on its own, but it looks better on football helmets and especially integrated within the words "Davidson" or "Wildcats" (see images 3, 14, and 18 here).

"Tertiary Spirit Mark": D+

The phrase "tertiary spirit mark" sounds both pretentious and corny, and the actual look of the third logo is not much better than its ridiculous name. I'm not a big fan of paw print logos regardless. They seem pretty cliche and a little too obvious for any school whose mascots have paws (there are 29 Division I schools named Wildcats, Tigers, or Panthers alone). On top of that, apparently that red blob is supposed to be a letter "D," something I only was able to notice after reading the official press release. Not only does it not look like a "D," the paw print seems to rip off the University of Cincinnati's logo, expect ours looks worse. Fortunately, this is only the "tertiary" logo, so hopefully it won't feature too prominently.

Overall, I'm actually okay with the new look. The "primary" and "secondary" logos are pretty solid, although I hope the school cans both the phrase "spirit mark" and the "tertiary" look. Still, I'm a little disappointed they didn't attempt to recreate the classic 1950s-era logo of a well-dressed Wildcat working away at a typewriter, although that might have been a little too accurate depiction of a Davidson student's life.