The North Georgia Nighthawks are the athletic teams of the University of North Georgia (UNG), formed in 2013 through the consolidation of North Georgia College & State University and Gainesville State College. The Nighthawks identity replaced the former Saints nickname, which had used a Saint Bernard mascot, to help unify the merging schools. The current athletics brand, completed in 2024, is the result of a three-year standardization project led by Rickabaugh Graphics.
Design and History
UNG’s athletics branding has evolved through several distinct phases. From the inception of intercollegiate athletics in 1970, stock variations of the NG letters were used on uniforms alongside a Saint Bernard mascot mark. Until the late 1990s, staggered NGC and NG letterforms appeared on uniforms before stacked variations emerged. Around 1995, an interlocking NG concept began to take shape, and by 1997 a three-color stacked NG was used on athletics apparel. During institutional consolidation in January 2015, the blue, white and gold Nighthawk logo was introduced. The most recent brand package rolled out in phases, beginning with block and script wordmarks in 2023 and concluding with a new staggered NG monogram launched in July 2024. [1]
The 2024 NG monogram was designed in collaboration with Rickabaugh Graphics, a Columbus, Ohio-based firm with hundreds of collegiate clients. The updated staggered version was inspired by branding from North Georgia’s first two and a half decades of intercollegiate competition after athletics was reintroduced to campus in 1971, when a staggered NG or NGC was the institutional brand for athletics. The offset and staggered positioning of the letters mirrors those earlier marks, before the stacked version was introduced in 1995. [2]
The new NG monogram pulls inspiration from the brand legacy of North Georgia Athletics by reverting to the staggered letters used to represent athletics for most of its history. The custom Nighthawk font and the N and G of the monogram are pulled from the typeface used in the 2013 rebrand during institutional consolidation. The center spine of the logo centrally points north, and the monogram has five terminating endpoints to represent the power of five UNG campuses. The distinct state of Georgia outline is hinted in the negative space of the G. [1]
The new logo replaces the previous UNG design with a simplified NG, featuring the N slightly above the G. According to Brendan Schabath, Director of Athletic Communications, the design choice symbolizes UNG’s pride in being a leading collegiate institution in North Georgia. The logo change served as an opportunity for UNG to standardize its public brand and become a staple in the community and in the NCAA with a modern, recognizable and unique logo. UNG also introduced a new tagline with the logo: “Renewed Appearance. Same Mission.” [3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The Nighthawk identity was created with input from focus groups during the consolidation process. UNG worked with Rickabaugh Graphics to create the Nighthawks brand, and the Nighthawk represents key descriptors that focus group participants used for the new institution. [4] The official mascot is Nigel the Nighthawk. [5]
The official athletics colors are blue and gold. The university’s official brand guide specifies Pantone 287 C for blue and Pantone 123 C for gold. [6] The official athletics brand guide lists blue as the primary color, white as secondary, and black and gold as tertiary colors. [7]
Typography and Design
The current brand set includes the NG monogram, a family of wordmarks and a custom Nighthawk font. The custom font and the letterforms of the monogram are derived from the typeface used in the 2013 rebrand during institutional consolidation. [1] The brand guidelines specify that gold should not be used unless it serves as secondary design support to the three-color hawk, and that the Nighthawk head should not be reversed out. [1]
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