The Sun Belt Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily across the southern United States. The conference has undergone two significant visual identity overhauls in its history, first in 2013 and again in 2020, with the current branding built around a sunrise motif and a custom typographic system.
Design and History
The Sun Belt Conference’s previous logo, in use since 1997, was replaced on July 1, 2013, following a nearly yearlong examination of the conference’s brand identity. The league worked with SME, Inc., a strategic brand development firm that had previously handled rebranding projects for the Pac-12 Conference and Big Sky Conference. The 2013 redesign introduced the mantra “Together We Rise” and was developed through comprehensive quantitative and qualitative brand research involving presidents, athletic directors, student athletes, alumni and media stakeholders. The new mark was designed to appear in each member school’s official colors on uniforms, fields and playing courts.[1]
In May 2020, the conference unveiled its current visual identity, developed by Brian Gundell Graphic Design Co. over a seven-month process. The new branding was designed to modernize the conference’s look while staying true to its mission, with an emphasis on improving legibility at small sizes and at distance, along with easier reproduction across applications.[2][3]
The 2020 identity is built on a combination of the conference name connected to a sunrise graphic, displayed with the words “Sun Belt” and “SBC,” which creates primary, secondary and tertiary applications. The primary logo is the monogram version reading “SBC,” intended for use on fields, courts and patches, while secondary logos and wordmarks identify the conference by its full name. The design features a sun rising over the horizon in the letter “B.”[2][4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2013 logo, which preceded the current mark, highlighted the sun as an iconic expression for the conference, suggesting unity, strength, promise and ambition. The individual parts of that icon combined to create a unified whole, representing strength in togetherness. A band of blue across the diameter of the icon symbolized the “Sun Belt” region while creating the feeling of a sun breaking the horizon at the dawn of a new day.[1]
The 2020 redesign retained the sunrise concept, with the sun rising over the horizon integrated into the letter “B” of the conference’s marks.[4] The refreshed color scheme of navy and gold was introduced to give the marks a bolder presence.[2]
Typography and Design
The 2020 branding introduced a custom typeface called Sun Belt Display, combined with the Quadon font family, giving the overall look an exclusive feel for the conference. The typographic approach was chosen to align with other major collegiate athletic conferences.[2][3]
The design firm described the project as creating a flexible identity system with multiple marks, a completely custom font, brand guidelines and other brand extensions.[3]
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