On Wednesday, Southeast Missouri State University unveiled updated logos for their athletics department.
The refreshed identity features an official brand font and emphasis on using ‘SEMO’ as the primary reference to the athletics department.
“We are excited to reveal our refreshed series of logos and wordmarks,” said Director of Athletics Brady Barke. “Having a strong and recognizable brand is essential as we continue to elevate the profile of the University and Redhawk Athletics, and continue towards our vision of being the premier athletics program in the Ohio Valley Conference. These new marks complement our existing Redhawk logo and help us establish a strong regional and national identity by embracing the SEMO nickname.”
In 2018, SEMO partnered with Ologie, a higher education branding and marketing firm based in Columbus, Ohio, to help determine usage of ‘SEMO’ vs ‘Southeast’. Ologie discovered through surveys and interviews that people preferred ‘SEMO’ when referring to the athletics teams.
After Ologie’s study, the university’s marketing team and athletics department designed the new logos.
SEMO’s new primary athletics logo was designed using the Diavlo Bold font. Diavlo Bold was chosen because “of its combination of rounded edges and peaks that emulate a rounded beak, making it the perfect complement to the Redhawk logo… In addition, Diavlo Bold pairs well with the university brand font, Calibre, creating cohesion between the university and spirit logo systems.”
Adding an official font allows the school to use official sport-specific logos and be more consistent with their branding across all platforms.
This is the first update to SEMO’s athletics marks since 2005.
