The Indiana Hoosiers are the athletic teams of Indiana University in Bloomington. The university’s visual identity is built around the interlocking “IU” monogram, known as the trident, which serves as the official logo for both the university and its athletics department. Indiana is one of the few NCAA schools that use a single logo for the university and athletics. [1]
Design and History
The trident mark has origins dating back as early as 1898, with many early examples of the symbol used for athletic purposes. [1] The earliest-known example of the interlocking I and U symbol appears in the Athletics section of the 1898 Arbutus yearbook. [2]
In 2002, Indiana University hired San Francisco-based Michael Osborne Design to develop a new logo with the goal of creating one universal mark rather than maintaining several different versions. [3] Designer Paul Kagiwada was subsequently hired to give the logo a cleaner look, creating the version used by the university today. [4] The redesign was described as a minor tweak to a highly identifiable logo rather than a drastic change. [3]
In October 2018, Indiana University Athletics unveiled its first-ever Brand and Uniform Guidelines, developed in collaboration with the Indiana University Communications team and modeled after the university-wide brand guidelines released in 2016. The guidelines standardized the use of traditional IU marks, including the trident, script Indiana wordmark, and candy stripes, across all athletic uniforms and communications. [5]
Meaning and Symbolism
Indiana’s school colors are cream and crimson. They were chosen by the class of 1888, which combined the university’s crimson and black colors with the senior class’s cream and gold to eliminate confusion. [1] The official athletics color specifications are crimson (#990000) and cream. [6]
The university’s brand guidelines describe the trident as a symbol of IU’s “story, our strength, and our legacy.” [7] The trident is used institution-wide and at the unit level, and the university does not permit individual units to create separate logos. [7]
Typography and Design
The IU brand leverages two core typefaces: Benton Sans as the primary typeface and Georgia Pro as the secondary typeface. The university also uses Azeret Mono for eyebrow copy, captions, and notations. [8]
For marketing purposes, the university’s brand guidelines state that crimson is the primary color that should be dominant in all materials, while white is substituted for cream because cream does not reproduce well in most design executions. [4]
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