The New University of California Logo

Admin Vit, writing for Brand New, on the new logo for the University of California:

Basically, the previous wordmark could have not even existed and no one would have complained. With this new identity, it’s clear that UC wants to stand out more and establish itself as the guardian of all these campuses and it’s a great move. The icon is simple and memorable; perhaps hard to read as “UC” because the “C” is so prominent and the “U” reads first as a book/shield than a “U” but emphasizing C for California is not such a bad thing. Some of our tipsters suggested it doesn’t look very collegiate and I think that’s fine as this is more about establishing a friendly brand presence for the overall family of campuses while each campus then can drill the collegiate message more efficiently. The wordmark is set in FF Kievit, which starts to look a little too default-y or Microsoft-y but it’s certainly a safe and honest choice.

Personally I think it is terrible. It lacks sophistication and weight. I don’t think it properly reflects the prestige of a serious academic institution.

The design team made the following video explaining their design choices:

Via Daring Fireball