The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

New logo for The University News

New+logo+for+The+University+News

Refresh seen as a means to embrace digital media

 

Faced with the looming presence of online media outlets and the attention-grabbing aspect of their medium, The University News – SLU’s student newspaper – announced today that it has completed a rebranding effort: unveiling new logos for the paper and a new font for its text-based endeavors.

“We spent a lot of time over the past couple of months assessing our situation,” Paul Brunkhorst, the paper’s editor-in-chief, said at the press conference announcing the paper’s refreshed look. (The press conference was sparsely attended; inside sources say that the only attendees, the paper’s editorial staff, were required to attend.)

“We think that this new logo will engage people. It’s not cluttered like the old logo. And creating a new look was a hell of a lot easier than continually trying to improve our content and write good pieces – which is what we’ve done in the past. Writing is hard; this new logo reflects what our readers desire: simplicity,” Brunkhorst added.

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Indeed, the paper spent a significant amount of its time and financial resources pursuing its redesigned logo and look. Editors and staff committed themselves to gathering input from the paper’s readers, and The University News says that it took seriously the recommendations and comments it received from its subscriber base.

“We convened focus groups and conducted surveys, and we can say with certainty that the new logo and font are what people want from the paper,” Brunkhorst stated.

The new logo is a simple blue box, which the paper says signifies its commitment to simplicity – stories that won’t make you think too hard. And the new font that the paper will begin using is Comic Sans – “a third grade-level approach to making stories friendlier,” Brunkhorst quipped.

Though the paper says that it is in dire financial straits – print ad revenues have fallen steadily over the last few years – it still spent a few thousand dollars, approximately 30% its budget, to pay for a logo refresh by an outside company, a company that was also involved in other high profile logo campaigns.

“Yes, we’re facing a budget deficit for this school year,” Brunkhorst stressed, “but this is money well spent. People will love this new logo.”

It appears, though, that the public has not been as receptive to the redesign as Brunkhorst and his staff thought. On the paper’s Facebook page, the picture of the new logo has garnered more than 500 comments – most them negative.

“Does the UNews think that its readers are stupid?” one commenter wrote.

“No, of course not,” Brunkhorst said when asked about the comment at the news conference. “We’re just trying to prepare the paper for the digital age. The new logo and font will ensure our continued relevance in the future.”

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