New UC Logo – Keep It or Dump It?

A new, stylized "UC" logo meant to symbolize the contemporary University of California has sparked a firestorm of criticism.

Critics say the symbol – a thick blue "U" partially overlaid with a partly transparent "C" – looks cheap and commercial, and lacks the dignity appropriate for one of the world's leading universities.

Do you think UC should keep the new logo? We'd like to know your thoughts, so please tell us in the comments section.

In just four days, an online petition had gathered 49,174 signatures as of 9 p.m. Tuesday night. And a four-day-old Facebook page, "Stop the UC Logo Change," had 6,108 "Likes."

"It looks so corporate, and it looks CHEAP," wrote Stephanie Lam of Berkeley on the petition.

Mark Fox, a professor of graphic design at the California College of the Arts, called the design "utterly forgettable" and "a complete mismatch for the university's history and reputation," adding that it "has no visual or conceptual gravitas," according to a front-page article about the controversy in the San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday.

Officials of the 10-campus UC system have been quick to respond to the firestorm, saying the new symbol is an additional branding mark, not a replacement for the official seal. 

"Here's the thing: It's not replacing anything," UC said on its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon. "There wasn't a logo before, and the UC seal isn't going anywhere."

The new logo is the main UC emblem now on the UC Office of the President homepage, while the official seal is the main emblem on the UC Regents homepage. 

UC said the university began using the new symbol nearly a year ago, though the uproar hit just recently with a number of press reports.

Jason Simon, UC's Director of Marketing Communication, said in a message that the petition organizers posted on their website:

"The new mark was created as a part of our broader efforts to build awareness and support for all the things that UC does to make California (and by extension the world) better. What we have tried to do is to create a mark that is iconic, flexible, and solid enough that it works to represent the UC system as a whole.

"The mark can be used in a combination of the various UC blues and golds as well as in a multitude of applications."Seals are wonderful and carry a legacy and tradition. They also signify bureaucracy, staidness, and other not-so-great characteristics."

Attached to this article is a short UC video released last month, "University of California Identity," that includes the seal and new logo.

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