The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) introduced a new institutional logo and visual identity in 2022, replacing roughly a dozen different marks that had been in use across campus. The redesign was created by Baltimore-based TBC, Inc., and features a hawk soaring upward in the university’s trademark maroon and gray. The rollout began July 1, 2022, with the new emblem placed on the campus water tower as part of the wider rebranding effort. [1]
Design and History
The 2022 rebrand was driven by a desire to establish a singular identity and to emphasize UMES’s status as a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). UMES President Heidi M. Anderson said the university had been using about 12 different logos across campus, and that the old “M” logo did not communicate the institution’s HBCU identity when she traveled. Anderson mandated that the university’s colors and mascot remain the same while adding increased emphasis on its HBCU legacy. [1]
Research conducted before the redesign found that the hawk was the element that resonated most strongly across all constituencies. The university also discovered that many students, prospective students, and parents had no idea UMES was an HBCU, making it important to incorporate that status along with the university’s 1886 founding into the new mark. [1]
The hawk has been the university’s mascot since the late 1940s. According to an account by John Mitchell, a running back on Maryland State College’s 1948 football team, the nickname was chosen after a discussion with teammate Leonard Cisco and public relations director Charles C. Jacobs, who saw a hawk depicted on the football scoreboard. The sports pages soon reported the Maryland State Hawks, and the nickname stuck. [2]
Alongside the new logo, UMES unveiled a new tagline, “Soar Above and Beyond.” The university’s original motto, Facta Non Verba, remained intact. [1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The current UMES brand guidelines describe the primary brandmark as the defining asset of the university brand, infused with strength and forward movement. The guidelines require that all elements of the brandmark remain intact and that the “HBCU 1886” text remain in the logo at all times. [3]
The hawk is the central visual symbol of the UMES identity, retained from the university’s athletic and institutional heritage. The “HBCU” identifier explicitly marks the university’s historically Black college and university status, while “1886” references its founding year. [1]
The brand system includes secondary marks for situations where the primary logo is not practical. The guidelines identify a wordmark and a hawk icon as secondary options, and allow cropping of the hawk icon for dynamic graphic effects, with removal of the “HBCU 1886” text permitted only when the icon is used purely as a graphic element. [3]
Typography and Design
The 2022 redesign was created by Baltimore-based TBC, Inc. [1] Brand consulting firm Rafkin states that it and TBC developed market research-informed strategy, brand positioning, key messaging, a new tagline, and the new logo and visual identity system. Rafkin also formed a university-wide Brand Council to build consensus for the rebrand. [4]
Public UMES brand materials do not identify a specific typeface designer or font family for the logo lettering. The documented design history establishes the agency responsible for the 2022 redesign but does not credit an individual designer. [1]
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