Madison Shumway
Life Editor
When ISU students don Bengal Wednesday shirts or walk through halls emblazoned with tiger stripes, they might not realize how much consideration goes into selecting each shade of orange. Behind the school’s distinctive design lies decades of history and a marketing team dedicated to ensuring that ISU remains identifiable among nearly 5,000 American colleges and universities.
“As an alumnus, a graduate, you go out, and you’re always going to take a piece of ISU with you,” said Stuart Summers, associate vice president of Marketing and Communications. “Well, how do you symbolize that time? You connect yourself through being a Bengal and the orange and the black, and a lot of those memories are tied to that.”
The design that helps define ISU features images that hearken to university tradition, colors that draw from the natural environment and practical, clean text that conveys the straightforward simplicity of the university’s goals. University symbols have developed over time, eventually taking on the understated aesthetic ISU relies upon today.
Governing use of these officially-recognized symbols and design elements are a set of guidelines published by the university. These rules dictate acceptable use of each element, from the type of publication in which a logo may be included to the color of the metallic ink in which it may be printed. Any content distributed by the university or its departments follows these guidelines in order to maintain a cohesive look, and only licensed vendors who agree to adhere to them can use ISU logos. According to Summers, this consistency is crucial to establishing ISU’s brand identity.
“It’s about telling a story. The story is about, ‘What does it mean to be a Bengal?’” he said. “The Bengal community is about inclusion. The Bengal community is about making yourself a better person. The Bengal community is about exploring opportunities, leaving here with the skills necessary to be something better.”
ISU’s wordmark acts as the primary identifier for the university and accompanies all publications and marketing materials.
Former Communication, Media and Persuasion professor Paula Jull designed ISU’s former wordmark, now fondly nicknamed the “mountain logo.” The vertical purple-and-orange landscape insignia can still be spotted around campus (on a sign in the parking lot west of 4th Street, for example).
During the university’s broad campaign to simplify its design, ISU adopted its current, more horizontal wordmark.
“People wanted an alternative to that very tall mark,” said Joey Gifford, graphic design specialist for ISU’s Marketing & Communications team. “For a while both were acceptable, but in an effort for a tighter, more consistent look the mountain logo was eliminated.”
Across all publications, ISU uses two official font families: Futura and Agfa Rotis. Students can read these typefaces on fliers, banners and the university website. ISU also uses LHF Stanford Script and the custom font ISU Athletics, designed by Joey Gifford. The simple, unpretentious typefaces, Summers said, help ISU maintain an image of familiarity and practicality.
“We wanted to tell a story that comes across as easy to understand and simple,” he said. “Our story is a straightforward story: we’re here to educate students and send them out into the world.”
While other universities may employ flashy fonts to communicate an air of prestige, ISU alternately chooses to remain unaffected and accessible.
“Idaho State has, for its whole history, had to fight for everything that it got. It’s kind of this blue-collar grit, ‘we’re going to do what’s right and what’s necessary and what’s hard, because that’s the right thing to do,’” said Ryan Sargent, associate director of alumni relations. “I love that grit. I love that blue-collar, get-down-to-work mentality to improve your community. That’s what ISU represents to me.”
When athletics director Jeff Tingey arrived at ISU in 2007, he faced a major graphic design challenge. Over the years, various athletics programs and even the weight room had adopted their own unofficial logos (23 logos, to be exact). Tingey, with the input of marketing staff and athletic coaches, pared the incohesive constellation of designs down to three logos: the Bengal Head, Spirit Mark, and the claw-marked, blocky wordmark that can be seen on t-shirts and on signs outside Holt Arena.
Consistent branding has proved particularly important to Idaho State’s athletic programs, Tingey said, since many schools use the ISU name. “We need to be known for Idaho State,” he said. “We’re an exceptional school. We’ve got great academic programs, we’ve got great athletic programs, and we want to have our own identity and not be confused with, say, the Iowa State Cyclones.”
The Spirit Mark, otherwise known as the “interlocking I/S,” appears frequently on ISU publications and merch. The I/S insignia has taken many shapes over ISU’s history, but former media relations staffer Frank Mercogliano is credited with drafting the current mark on his personal computer. One memorable version, used in the early 90s, resembles the University of Miami’s trademark two-tone “U” and thus is affectionately nicknamed the University of Miami I/S. Another I/S bears resemblance to a trophy, with claw marks on the “U” and a paw in the center.
In 1997, an athletics department rebrand produced the Bengal Head mark and the clawed block letters used on t-shirts, jerseys, banners and pamphlets today. The original Bengal Head featured lightning-esque bolts that were later removed for a cleaner look.
Some might wonder why early Idaho State officials chose the Bengal as the college’s mascot. After all, the tiger isn’t exactly native to the state. Ralph Hutchinson, the 1920’s football coach for which the Hutchinson Quad is named, graduated from Princeton and borrowed its mascot and colors for his new home school. Prior to adopting the Bengal tiger, the school celebrated school pride with a Bantam mascot.
ISU’s mascot has taken many forms, but one retro rendition has recently reappeared on university merch. The sailor-hat Bengal, designed by cartoonist Arthur Evans in the 1930s, wears a cap emblazoned with an “I.” But ISU shares the vintage logo with universities like Occidental, Louisiana State, and Auburn, who all used the nautical tiger in a time when copyright was a non-issue.
The Spirit Mark and Bengal Head function as official secondary logos for the university at large, grounding ISU’s image on everything from sweatshirts to mugs to tote bags. Since athletics programs are so visible, including them on uniforms and helmets helps boost ISU’s reputation, Tingey said.
“We have an opportunity to help manage and promote the brand of the university,” he said. “That’s what we need to do, is to promote Idaho State University in the best and most positive light.”
ISU reserves its university seal for special occasions only: it’s used on diplomas, awards, and other prestigious items. The current seal depicts two graduates standing under Swanson arch, honoring both ISU’s first building and its annual tradition of sending incoming and graduating students through the arch. The former seal, which embossed official documents for nearly 40 years, dates back to a 1962 competition held as Idaho State College became Idaho State University. Former student Ralph Harris, then enrolled at an art school in California, submitted his winning design and received a $25 prize. The three encircled symbols represented the forestry, agriculture and pharmacy programs ISU was known for at the time. Harris included the Latin phrase “veritas vos liberabit,” or “the truth will set you free,” on his seal design. ISU subsequently adopted the motto, which can still be seen on the university seal today.
“He added that to say that education, what you receive through education, will set you free,” Sargent said.
ISU adopted orange as its official color in 1927, but the exact shade has changed over time.
For several early years, the school used red and black for its spirit colors, as orange ink and dye were more difficult to acquire at the time. During World War II, ISU used a more yellow color because of rationing restrictions.
Even when orange ink became more readily available, students, staff and alumni have debated what hue best represents the Bengals. Pushes for pumpkin, burnt orange and even neon occurred before the university introduced its current set of official colors.
The colors ISU uses today have been carefully selected for versatility and consistency across mediums. “ISU Orange,” or Pantone 165, appears in nearly all publications and gear along with black.
A set of secondary colors, including natural greens and browns and variations of orange and gray, also help the university maintain its branding.
ISU’s marketing team implemented the greens and browns only recently as part of an effort to distinguish the university from Boise State, University of Idaho and other institutions in the state.
To steer clear of U of I’s gold and silver scheme and BSU’s signature blue, the team looked to Southeast Idaho’s natural beauty for inspiration.
“People often wanted to focus on our location and the outdoors as one of our best selling points – for recreation, but also for research and quality of life,” Gifford said. “So greens are a natural fit in helping promote the area.”
