Leanna Byrne | Editor
The college is to reopen consultation with stakeholder groups on its rebranding exercise, known as the Identity Initiative, following sustained backlash to the proposed new logotype revealed in March, The University Times has learned.
On Wednesday, the College Board was presented with a revised logotype with a more “heraldic” design. According to a college spokesperson, “the features are more defined to look like a classical crest”. It is understood, however, that the widely criticised blue and white colours featured in the leaked logo remain in place. “It looks much better and more refined,” said the spokesperson.
Furthermore, one name option in the logotype presented to the College Board was “Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin”, whereas previous prototype specimens only used the name “Trinity College, the University of Dublin”.
In their presentation, the Identity Initiative recognised that the college community was resistant to the changes proposed and that the suggested logotype received a great deal of bad publicity internally and externally.
Speaking at Board, the Provost, Patrick Prendergast, said “it was time to take a deep breath”, and that they would regroup before making any decisions on the rebranding.
An Initiative in Idenity
Current Logotype
Logotype leaked in March
Despite initial resistance from the College to proposals to reopen consultation with university stakeholders, which was understood to be an attempt to keep within the timeframe of college’s five-year strategic plan, consultation will now continue with students and staff. The new five-year strategic plan is set to be revealed in September of this year.
Commenting on the rebranding project’s decision to reopen consultation, Professor of Finance at the TCD School of Business, Brian Lucey, said that he welcomed the move: “It’s a good idea and it shows that the university can come together and act in a collegial manner then we can make changes to decisions being made.”
Lucey went on to argue that “something like a change to our crest or name needs a wider consultation with not just students and staff, but alumni as well. There needs to be a more bottom up approach. This is easier than ever now with the networks of alumni that we have that are contactable through various mechanisms such as emailing lists.”
The Identity Initiative will carry out their consultations on the new proposed logotype over the summer months as a “process of self-reflection” in order to help the university “better leverage their strengths and further enhance Trinity’s reputation” by attracting “the best staff and students, research funding, philanthropic support, and impactful media coverage”.
Photo by Edmund Heaphy for The University Times
Updated 1/5/2014 @ 11:52am: “Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin” was presented as an option in addition to “Trinity College, the University of Dublin”.
