West Virginia Wesleyan College, located in Buckhannon, West Virginia, fields its NCAA Division II athletic teams as the Bobcats and Lady Bobcats. The college’s athletics website is wesleyanbobcats.com, and the teams compete in the Mountain East Conference, of which Wesleyan was a founding member in 2013.[1]
Design and History
In July 2013, West Virginia Wesleyan College introduced a new institutional logo and tagline, “Find Your Voice,” at a press conference. The new identity was the result of a study by a Marketing Committee comprising campus community members, overseen by Director of Admission John Waltz. The committee sought a logo that would convey strong academics, extracurricular activities, and athletics.[2]
Design firm Jensen Design Studio created the final artwork, which consists of a wordmark of “Wesleyan,” a customized “W,” and mountains. The design direction was informed by surveys of the campus community, which showed most individuals preferred a strong “W” and a sense of West Virginia as part of the logo.[2] The tagline “Find Your Voice” was developed by Katie Loudin, coordinator of outreach in the College’s Center for Community Engagement & Leadership Development, and was brand-tested by MBA marketing research students before approval.[2]
Elements such as the Bobcat Paw remained in place to support the new logo, but were designated as supporting elements and never used centrally.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The college’s athletic nickname is the Bobcats, and its official colors are orange and black.[1] The school colors date to the first football game in 1898, when fullback and team captain Frank Thompson wore a turtleneck sweater in Princeton University’s orange and black to honor two football greats of that university whom he especially admired.[1]
The 2013 institutional logo incorporated mountains as a nod to the state of West Virginia, reflecting survey results that favored a sense of the state in the mark.[2]
Typography and Design
The 2013 logo created by Jensen Design Studio features a wordmark of “Wesleyan” paired with a customized “W” and mountain imagery.[2] The Bobcat Paw, previously a central element, was retained as a supporting graphic element within the broader identity system.[3]
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