Upload
nader-boraie
View
252
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
As a part of my Senior degree project I took it upon myself to rediscover and rebrand a Northeastern University icon, King Husky. This booklet reflects the history behind the NU icon as well as my process and reasoning.
Citation preview
By Nader Boraie
RediscoveringKING HUSKYA N E W L O G O F O R A N U I C O N
RediscoveringKING HUSKYK I L L I N G T H E Z O M B I E H U S K Y T O C R E A T E A N U I C O N
RediscoveringKING HUSKYA N E W I D E N T I T Y T O R E S T O R E A N U I C O N
RediscoveringKING HUSKYP r o p e r l y b r a n d i n g a n N U i c o n .
RediscoveringKING HUSKYE N D I N G T H E Z O M B I E H U S K Y ’ S R E I G N .C R E A T I N G A N U I C O N .
Table of Contents
1
3
9
13
17
19
In t roduct ion
The H is to ry o f K ing Husky
Husky Brand ing
Rev iva l o f the Zombie Husky
Good vs . Bad Des ign
Rediscover ing K ing Husky
1
Introduction
I n 2007 , I , a long wi th many o thers
entered Nor theastern Un ivers i ty as a
f reshman. As a f reshman go ing
th rough o r ientat ion , I d is t inc t l y
remember go ing th rough E l l Ha l l ,
see ing the b ronze s ta tue o f K ing
Husky, learn ing about
Nor theastern be ing the second schoo l
to adapt the Husky as a mascot , and
hear ing how s tudents would
commonly rub K ing Husky ’s nose fo r
good luck every semester.
I remember look ing a t the bookstore
fo r Nor theastern appare l to suppor t
my chosen un ivers i ty and upon my
f i r s t g lance v iewing the Nor theastern
Husky logo , I was baf f led that such a
g reat schoo l would a l low fo r i t s own
mascot to look so poor ly des igned .
F rom 2007 onwards , I as wel l as any
o ther Nor theastern s tudent have
wi tnessed th ree d i f fe rent Husk ies
come and go . A l though none o f these
rebrands have rea l l y le f t an impact
wi th s tudents o r the genera l pub l i c ,
the most recent adaptat ion o f the
Nor theastern Husky has s tudents ,
facu l ty, and o thers in d isbe l ie f that i t
i s an ac tua l o f f i c ia l un ivers i ty logo .
Throughout the years i t a lmost seems
as i f the b rand ing was improv ing , but
the most cur rent vers ion o f our Husky
has been a ser ious s tep backwards .
As the second schoo l to adapt the
Husky as i t s own mascot and the
la rge amount o f Husky p r ide
Nor theastern s tudents have , I fee l as
i f the logos Nor theastern have been
us ing have rea l l y done an in jus t i ce
to K ing Husky, Husky p r ide , and the
a th le t i c image of Nor theastern i t se l f .
Due to th is d i lemma, in my sen io r
year, wi th the oppor tun i ty to c reate
my own degree p ro jec t , I dec ided to
exp lo re the h is to ry o f K ing Husky in
hopes o f a t tempt ing to to red iscover
K ing Huksy, rebrand the Husky i t se l f ,
and make a t ru ly i con ic ident i ty fo r
Nor theastern ’s h is to r i c mascot . I n o r-
der to c reate a new, t ru ly i con ic K ing
Husky, and have a so l id
unders tand ing o f how I came to the
f ina l outcome, I be l ieve i t ’s necessary
to look a t the h is to ry beh ind
Nor theasterns Husky, exp lo re the
b rand ing th roughout the years , and
po in t out the f laws of the cur rent ,
rev ived un ivers i ty zombie Husky.
Th is book le t se rves to educate about
the h is to ry beh ind K ing husky, whi le
a lso showing the background o f
Nor theastern ’s own Husky logos , and
the dec is ion mak ing that took p lace
in o rder to s ta r t the p rocess o f
rebrand ing and red iscover ing K ing
Husky.
Introduction
2
3
The History of King HuskyI n 1927 Nor theastern became the
f i r s t co l lege to choose the Husky as
i t ’s Mascot . On March 4 , 1927
Nor theastern aqu i red the ac tua l
husky, Sapsut , whom came f rom a
l ineage o f s led dog roya l ty.
Nor theastern t ranspor ted Sapsut f rom
Alaska to Nor th Stat ion in Boston in
o rder to o f f i c ia l l y obta in i t s own
mascot . Sapsut ’s a r r i va l was
ce lebrated by over 1 ,000 s tudents
and c lasses were cance l led in o rder
to welcome h im as a par t o f
Nor theastern . The Nor theastern
Un ivers i ty p res ident awarded the
husky wi th an honorary degree and
f rom that moment fo rward was named
K ing Husky. K ing Husky s tayed wi th
Nor theastern Un ivers i ty fo r four teen
years and a f te r h is pass ing , h is
l ineage had been passed down
th rough generat ions o f new K ing
Husky ’s which represent
Nor theastern , have become of f i c ia l
mascots , have won numerous
p res t ig ious kenne l c lub shows, and
become a la rge par t o f the
Nor theastern Un ivers i ty cu l tu re . Up
unt i l 1989 , the o r ig ina l Sapsut , o r
K ing Husky ’s l ineage had been passed
down to o ther K ing Husk ies that had
taken h is p lace .
However, in 1989 , due to the las t
K ing Husky V I I pass ing , there was a
14 year gap wi thout a rea l husky
mascot unt i l 2003 when s tudents
voted to f i l l K ing Husky ’s shoes wi th
a new Husky.
Th is Husky was a younger and f ie rcer
can ine named Paws. A l though Paws
was set to f i l l K ing Husky ’s shoes ,
in 2005 , another member ha i l ing
f rom Sapsut ’s l ineage was b rought to
Nor theastern and c rowned K ing Husky
V I I I .
S ince then , both Paws and K ing
Husky V I I I have been in a t tendance o f
Nor theastern home ath le t i cs events
and they have cont inued to win
p res t ig ious kenne l c lub shows whi le
a lso showing the i r Nor theastern
p r ide .
The History of King Husky
4
5
Husky Timeline: 1927 – 2012
King Husky I March 4, 1927
Sapsut is brought from Alaska & officially crowned King Husky I.
King Husky IMarch 26, 1941
King Husky I passes away due to old age.
King Husky IIAugust, 1952
King Husky II abdicates.
Throughout the history of Northeastern, the first occurance of an official, live Husky mascotappeared in 1927. Since then, there have been many successors whom passed down and followed in King Husky I’s footsteps.
Queen Husky IApril 16, 1941
Queen Husky I is crowned.
Queen Husky IJuly 1941
Queen Husky I passes away.
King Husky IIJanuary 1942
King Husky II is crowned.
King Husky IIISeptember 24, 1952
King Husky III is crowned.
King Husky IIIJune, 1955
King Husky III is passes away.
Princess Regent Husky ISeptember, 1955
Princess Regent Husky I is crowned after student outrage on the death of King Husky III.
The History of King Husky
6
King Husky IVFebruary, 1958
King Husky IV replaces Princess Regent husky I
King Husky IVAugust, 1958
King Husky IV passes away & his father, Alyeskas
Suggen acts as a temporary replacement.
Alyekas SuggenAugust, 1960
Alyeskas Suggen retires as a temporary replacement.
King Husky VSeptember, 1965
King Husky V purchased by the class of 1970.
King Husky VMay, 1970
Class of 1970 graduates & takes King Husky V back.
Queen Husky II is pur-chased by the class of 1974
King Husky VISeptember, 1972
Queen Husky II abdicates due to stage fright. King
Husky VI is crowned.
King Husky VIDecember, 1972
King Husky VI escapes and is hit by car, causing him to
need to be put to sleep.King Husky VII
?
King Husky VII crowned.
King Husky VII 1989
King Husky VII passes away and no live mascot
takes his place for 14 years.
Paws 2003
Students vote to let Paws to fill King Husky’s shoes.
King Husky VIII & Paws 2005 – Present
A member of Sapsut’s family is brought to NU to reign as
King Husky with Paws.
?
Huskies crowned
Huskies relieved
Huskies passed
Previous Huskies
Huskies reigning
14
5
7
12
2
7 The History of King Husky
8
9
Northeastern’s Husky BrandingAs a par t o f my research , I searched
th rough Nor theastern ’s l ib ra ry
a rch ives fo r any t race o f o r ig ins o f
any husky logos . Unfor tunate ly,
noth ing was found concern ing the
husky logos . However, a f te r go ing
though numerous yearbooks , and a l l
o f the a rch ived f i les on the
Nor theastern Logos and sea ls , one
th ing became c lear to me;
Nor theastern has had a lack o f
cons is tency wi th b rand image and
logos , whether i t be fo r a th le t i cs ,
husky logos , o r jus t in genera l . I
thought I would come across a la rge
amount o f o lder Husky logos .
Unfor tunate ly, that was not the case .
F rom what I have come across , there
on ly seems to be one husky that was
used ear l ie r than the 1980 Husky.
Th is husky was a s i lhouet te o f a
s ing le s tand ing Husky in 1935 , used
by the Nor theastern footba l l team.
One of the in te res t ing th ings I found
was a p iece o f paper f rom 1940
exp la in ing the meaning beh ind
Nor theastern ’s la t in Mot to , “Lux ,
Ver i tas Vi r tus” which I be l ieve can
he lp in the genera l d i rec t ion o f the
Husky logo . Th is mot to means L ight ,
Tru th , and Manl iness , but , Vi r tus does
have servera l meanings . These
meanings convey Nor theastern ’s
idea ls o f courage , v i r tue , exce l lence ,
b ravery, and v igor.
When observ ing the Husky logos that
Nor theastern has had th roughout i t s
h is to ry, i t i s apparent that there have
been no logos that have las ted more
than 6 years except fo r one , the 1987
Husky which combines the Husky wi th
the Nor theastern s lab ser i f N . The
rap id ly chang ing logos a re
p rob lemat ic because in o rder fo r a
logo to be i con ic o r memorab le , i t
cannot be complete ly changed wi th in
a few years . As ide f rom th is , i t has
become apparent that there has been
a lack o f b rand cons is tency wi th
Nor theastern as a whole . A l though
the cur rent o f f i c ia l Husky i s one
par t i cu la r Husky, a round campus and
on a thet ic mater ia l , mul t ip le vers ions
o f husk ies ex is t . Th is c reates a lack
o f ident i ty and causes s tudents and
o thers to not be sure what our own
of f i c ia l logo i s .
I be l ieve the c losest logo that came
c lose to be ing i con ic was the shor t
l i ved 2008-2009 husky that
i l lus t ra ted a f ie rce and courageous
husky. However, th is logo a l ready
looks l i ke a mascot , meaning that i t
doesn ’t seem l i ke the des ign s tems
f rom a rea l husky. I t a lmost seems
toy l i ke because o f the the very r idg id
des ign and curves o f the shape o f the
husky head i t se l f .
Northeastern’s Husky Branding
10
Another in te res t ing a t tempt was the
uppercase s lab ser i f N wi th the husky
in between used in 1987 . I th ink wi th
a few modi f i ca t ions that th is vers ion
o f the Husky cou ld be improved and
serve as a sup lementary vers ion o f
the husky logo .
Nor theastern ’s cur rent 2009 – 2012
b rand ing gu ide a ims a t re f lec t ing the
l i fes ty le o f “The Husky Way” which
i s supposed to convey the idea ls o f
leadersh ip , empowerment , and
apprec ia t ion o f d i f fe rence . A long s ide
o f those idea ls , Nor theastern wishes
to convey a f ie rce determinat ion and
tough , g r i t t y f ight that shows our
pass ion .
I and many o thers be l ieve that the
newly rev ived logo does not p roper ly
i l lus t ra te the message that
Nor theastern i s t r y ing to convey. Fo r
that reason , i t i s impor tant to me that
g iven the oppor tun i ty to c reate my
own degree p ro jec t , that I a t tempt to
c reate a wel l des igned , memorab le ,
and i con ic Husky that can redef ine
Nor theasterns Ath le t i c ident i ty and
re ins t i l l Husky p r ide . I t i s impor tant
to cons ider the h is to ry beh ind the
famous K ing Husky as wel l as
mainta in that the p r inc ip les o f good
des ign a re taken in to cons iderat ion
in o rder to c reate an i con ic logo that
Nor theastern can be p roud o f .
1935 Football Uniform Husky. Displayed as a silhouette. This may have
been one of the better attempts at a Northeastern University husky logo.
11
Branding Timeline: 1980 – 2012
1980 – 1986
The first official Husky logo adapted by Northeastern University. Commonly seen worn on the 1985 Hockey team which won the beanpot.
1987 – 1998
This Husky logo included multiple variations with a less aggressive facial expression and without the Northeastern N. This has been the longest lasting Northeastern Husky.
1999 – 2003
Serving as one of the most unique Husky logos, this iteration also contained multiple variations for different usage. It was also uniquely locked up in a triangle formation for athletics.
Throughout the history of Northeastern, the first occurance of an official Husky logo appeared in 1980. Since then, four new logos have been used throughout the years, only to bring back the first official logo again in the present day.
Northeastern’s Husky Branding
12
2004 – 2007
This Husky logo also included multiple variations and is
commonly used for Northeastern athletics even today. It also seems
as if it was derived from the 1987 version and accompanies
the Huskies logotype below.
2008 – 2009
As the most recently re-branded Husky, this
iteration exemplifies the fierce and competitive
nature of Northeastern’s Atheltics and seems to be a
revision of the previous logo, but looks like a toy husky rather than a real husky.
2009 – Present
The first official Northeastern Husky,
revived for present day use by the urging of the current
Hockey team in hopes to instill more husky pride.
13
Revival of the Zombie HuskyThe re in t roduct ion o f the ear ly 1980 ’s
husky was a b ig mis take in
a t tempt ing to make the Nor theastern
husky a g reat logo o r i con . The husky
i s memorab le , but on ly in a poor ly
des igned , “what were they th ink ing?”
type o f way. When look ing a t the
cur rent Nor theastern husky logo i t
seems as i f i t was a rough i l lus t ra ted
sketch fo r the d i rec t ion to go in fo r a
f ina l logo . Th is logo doesn ’t t rans la te
wel l when d isp layed a t smal le r s i zes
and in one co lo r because the loose
l ines and incons is tent marks make
i t look ind is t ingu ishab le . As ide f rom
that , the red eyes make the husky
seem l i ke i t i s rab id dog o r a
zombie that jus t dug i t se l f out o f a
pet cemetary.
D iss imi la r to the o ther husky logo ’s ,
the cur rent “v in tage” logo has no
emot ion in i t ’s fac ia l express ion ,
mak ing i t seem a lmost apathet ic .
Th is seems to make no sense fo r the
use o f a th le t i cs , espec ia l l y wi th the
use o f the red eyes , one would th ink
f ie rce would be the look a iming to be
accompl ished . Another e lement o f the
des ign that does not work i s the use
o f the red s t roke a round the husky
sur rounded by a b lack s t roke outs ide
o f that . In the 80s th is may have been
used to app ly the logo patch to
un i fo rms , but th is i s an outdated
concept and has no need to be a par t
o f a logo . Th is as wel l as the o ther
e lements makes the logo look very
amateur and doesn ’t g ive o f f the
p ro fess iona l o r compet i t i ve image
of a co l lege ’s i con , le t a lone a h igh
schoo l ’s i con .
The reason ing which insp i red th is ,
“v in tage” logo to be rev ived s temmed
f rom the u rg ing o f the cur rent Hockey
team to b r ing back the 80 ’s logo that
was worn on the teams je rsey ’s when
they won the beanpot . However, i t
seems to fo l low the la tes t t rend
o f v in tage insp i red des ign . I f the
v in tage des ign was wel l done in the
f i r s t p lace , that i s one th ing , but , the
in th is case the des ign was not wel l
done . Fo r that reason , th is zombie
husky shou ld be p roper ly rebur ied in
the pet cemetary that i t came f rom.
Revival of the Zombie Husky
14
1980 Hockey uniforms display the first Husky logo. This uniform was worn
while Northeastern amazingly went on to win the beanpot with a last minute shot.
15
Thermo Dynamic Rab id Red Aura
Magnet ic fo rehead p ro t rus ions
Se l f Dest ruc t i ve shad ing
Zombie eyes
Tear d rop widows peak
Broken Nose
Apathet ic Energy F ie ld
Bat t le scars?
Double ch in g rav i ta t iona l pu l l
Par t ia l l y b i t ten ear
Zombie Husky: A Flawed Canine
Revival of the Zombie Husky
16
17
Good vs. Bad DesignDes ign i s def ined as an in te l lec tua l
p rocess in which des igners serve
as p rob lem so lvers by us ing the i r
in te l lec t and exper ience to deter-
mine what i s the best approach to
a so lu t ion . However an impor tant
quest ion to ask was , when look ing a t
des ign how does one te l l the d i f fe r-
ence between good and bad des ign?
To beg in exp lo r ing the d i f fe rence
between good and bad des ign , I
looked a t D ie te r Rams ten p r in -
c ip les o f good des ign . D ie te r Rams
is a German indust r ia l des igner who
is notab ly assoc ia ted fo r h is work
wi th Braun . D ie te r Rams in famous ly
def ined good des ign by ten p r inc ip les
that many des igners use to gu ide
the i r des ign today. Good des ign i s :
innovat ive , makes a p roduct usefu l ,
i t i s aesthet ic , i t makes a p roduct
unders tandab le , i t i s unobt rus ive ,
good des ign i s honest , i t i s long las t -
ing , i t i s complete ly thorough , i t i s
env i ronmenta l l y f r iend ly, and las t l y,
good des ign i s as l i t t le des ign as
poss ib le . The ten p r inc ip les def ined
by D ie te r Rams were a g reat he lp to
me and in f luenced the f ina l concept I
deve loped and a r r i ved a t .
The p r inc ip les that in f luenced the
process o f Red iscover ing K ing
Husky a re shown to the le f t .
Good vs. Bad Design
14
Dieter Rams iconic principles and his work with Braun have influenced designers as well as a few notable companies. Apple is
not afraid to admit that from user interface design to the product design as a whole.
Is as little design as possible.
Is completely thorough.
Is honest.
Is long lasting.
Is aesthetic.
Is innovative.
Good Design...
19
Rediscovering King HuskyThe p rocess o f red iscover ing K ing
Husky has been long and ted ious . I t
s ta r ted out by do ing research on K ing
husky and Nor theastern , then I co l -
lec ted images o f K ing Husky and h is
in f luence on Nor theastern ’s cu l tu re
as a whole . F rom there I s ta r ted
c reat ing numerous rough sketches
which I then t rans la ted to rough
i l lus t ra t ions . I began by tak ing the
more t rad i t iona l mascot approach and
mak ing a car toony type o f husky that
fo l lowed the d i rec t ion Nor theastern
and genera l spor ts b rand ing has gone
in . Then , I dec ided to s t r ip down the
des ign and fo l low the i con ic des ign
p r i c ip les f rom Dieter Rams in o rder
to c reate a more s t reaml ined and
s impl i f ied logo . F rom there , I ex -
p lo red the p ro f i le v iew of the husky
and began exp lo r ing the o r ientat ion
and ac t ions o f the husky that would
be d isp layed . The concept that I a r-
r i ved a t was one husky wi th mul t ip le
var ia t ions to su i t d i f fe rent usages .
Th is was impor tant to me so that one
husky cou ld be app l ied in var ious
ways fo r usage . One s tandard Husky
cou ld be used fo r genera l usage ,
whi le a more aggress ive one cou ld be
used fo r compet i t i ve usage such as
ath le t i cs , and one to show husky
p r ide . The main goa l fo r th is was to
c reate a t ru ly versat i le ident i ty.
To the r ight a re a number o f rough
sketches , rough i l lus t ra t ions , deta i l s ,
and concepts which were cons idered
and used to a id in the c reat ion o f the
new husky logo ident i ty. Whi le the
sketches a re not rea l i s t i c o r ex t reme-
ly wel l done , they were ex t remely
he lp fu l in exp lo r ing the o r ientat ion
and look that the Husky logo cou ld
have gone in .
One o f the main in f luences I kept
in mind f rom Dieter Rams was that
“good des ign i s as l i t t le des ign as
poss ib le” so fo r that reason , I rea l l y
t r ied to s impl i fy my sketches and
rough i l lus t ra t ions to see where I
cou ld go wi th i t . Fo r a l i t t le whi le ,
I was th ink ing o f on ly inc lud ing a
logo fo r va r ia t ions o f the Husky head .
However, I fe l t that i t was l imi t ing
and a lso wouldn ’t do the logo jus t i ce
jus t to use an image of a husky head .
Af te r that I began to th ink that the
husky might not need spec i f i c char-
ac te r i s t i cs and cou ld essent ia l l y be
used as a super s impl i f ied i con . F rom
there , I began add ing a l i t t le more
deta i l and b rought the husky to i t s
f ina l s tages .
Rediscovering King Husky
20
23 Rediscovering King Husky
24
Northeastern ’s s lab ser i f N went in
the r ight d i rec t ion wi th the sp l i t N
des ign . However i t seemed to fa l l
between the c racks in s tand ing out
amongst the c rowd because o f the
gener ic shape o f the le t te r fo rm.
Many peop le ac tua l l y confuse i t wi th
the Nebraska Huskers s lab ser i f N a t
a g lance . Fo r th is reason , I deve loped
my own s lab ser i f N which i s accom-
pan ied by a custom typeface so that
the Husky a th le t i cs as a whole cou ld
have a more cohes ive image.
Or ig ina l l y I had no p lans to touch the
sp l i t paw des ign , but a f te r hear ing
a g reat dea l o f feedback , i t became
c lear that many s tudents fe l t unsat is -
f ied wi th the cur rent sp l i t paw des ign
because o f i t s cu t and paste s tenc i l
fee l . Many peop le c la imed i t looks
l i ke i t cou ld have been a p iece o f c l ip
a r t , which i s ce r ta in ly never a good
th ing . So fo r that reason , I dec ided to
rev is i t the sp l i t paw and c reate a new
paw that I thought had a more f ie rce
look .
As you can see , there a re a decent
amount o f logos that accompany the
newly c reated th ree main s tandard
Nor theastern Logos ( top row) . As fa r
as the husk ies go , there a re 4 main
var ia t ions : Nob le , F ie rce , Howl ing ,
and Jumping . Add i t iona l l y, a s i l -
houet ted logo o f a husky badge was
incorporated fo r p ro fess iona l usage .
Fo r a th le t i c usage , a f ie rcer a th le t i c
badge was c reated .
Whi le in many cases mul t ip le logos
can c reate an incons is tency wi th
b rand ing , I be l ieve that th is case i s
d i f fe rent . By us ing the same fo rm
of the husky fo r the each usage ,
a l though cer ta in th ings may d i f fe r,
the husky and b rand ing in i t se l f i s re -
in fo rced in ways that make the husky
versat i le .
I a lso dec ided to re in fo rce the sp l i t
co lo rs o f Red and B lack due to
the way in which the b lack po in ts
towards the Nor theast to fu r ther
enforce the bo ld look and fee l o f new
brand ing .
Whi le most o f th is p rocess focused
on K ing Husky and the b rand ing o f the
Nor theastern husky spec i f i ca l l y, the
fac t o f the mat te r i s , Nor theastern ’s
b rand ing as a whole cou ld have used
some a l te ra t ions .
I hope that th is book le t has been
in fo rmat ive , educat iona l , and
in t r igu ing . I t i s my hope that you a lso
en joy the new d i rec t ion o f b rand ing
I have env is ioned fo r Nor theastern ’s
Ath le t i cs . I t was my goa l to c reate a
un ique and impress ive ident i ty that
can potent ia l l y be used fo r years to
come and be an i con ic symbol o f k ing
husky.
Thank you...
A new identity to restore a NU icon
Given the oppor tun i ty to c reate my
own degree p ro jec t , the idea o f
rebrand ing Nor theastern ’s Husky was
a cha l lenge that I thought would
be ex t remely benef ic ia l . In o rder
to p roper ly rebrand Nor theastern ’s
Husky, I be l ieve i t was impor tant to
cons ider the h is to ry beh ind the fa -
mous K ing Husky as wel l as mainta in
that the p r inc ip les o f good des ign
a re taken in to cons iderat ion in o rder
to c reate an i con ic logo that can
redef ine the image of Nor theastern ,
which s tudents , a th le tes , and facu l ty
can be p roud o f and use fo r the years
to come.