Pepperdine University’s athletic teams, the Waves, compete in the West Coast Conference at the NCAA Division I level. The athletics department maintains a distinct visual identity system separate from the university’s academic branding, a distinction the university’s Integrated Marketing Communications office explicitly acknowledges in its brand guidelines.[1]
Design and History
Pepperdine Athletics underwent a significant rebranding effort beginning in January 2011, when Director of Athletics Steve Potts took his position. The sweeping changes included all-new logos, definitive colors and physical branding around campus.[2] As part of this effort, a new, darker shade of blue called “Collegiate Navy” was implemented across the entire athletics department.[2]
The stylized “P” logo, which features a wave integrated at the top of the letter, was developed from the “D” in the “Pepperdine Waves” wordmark, according to Tim Cullen, director of development for athletics.[2] The design debuted in 2003, when Pepperdine rebranded by eliminating the King Neptune mascot and focusing more on letter marks and wordmarks, also changing the orange and blue colors at that time.[3][4]
The long-form “Pepperdine Waves” wordmark, which spells out the full name against a cresting wave graphic, is the true primary logo according to the university’s website.[2] However, the athletics department maintains an abundance of secondary logos, including a solitary “P” that appears most often on facilities and apparel, as well as that same “P” above the word “Waves,” which is the logo ESPN uses during broadcasts.[5]
In 2022, Pepperdine reorganized its athletics branding and made its navy slightly darker.[6] The current primary logo is a stylized “P” in navy with orange trim, with the wave integrated at the top of the letter.[3]
The Waves nickname predates the university’s 1972 move to Malibu. From 1937 to 1972, Pepperdine College was located in South Los Angeles, eight miles from the ocean, yet still called its athletic teams the Waves. According to a school history, some Pepperdine students from out of state were so captivated by the Pacific that they suggested the name.[7]
Meaning and Symbolism
The athletics department intentionally chose a navy distinct from the university’s academic blue, which sits between royal and navy. Karina Herold, senior associate director of athletics, explained that the department “really wanted to be navy,” while the orange used by athletics is “pretty true to the orange that the university has.”[2] This means the athletics and academic logos do not share an identical color palette.[2]
In recent years, the athletics department focused on attaching the “P” to the “Waves” mascot name, because so many schools, even within the West Coast Conference, are represented by a “P.” Herold said this anchoring allows the mark to have “a little bit more uniqueness.”[2]
Typography and Design
The “P” logo was derived directly from the letterform of the “D” in the “Pepperdine Waves” wordmark, giving the standalone mark a direct typographic relationship to the primary logo.[2] The wave integrated into the top of the “P” is a documented feature of the mark that has carried through multiple iterations since its 2003 debut.[3]
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