UAL's branding for the future

by Tsubasa Kawata

University of the Arts London (UAL) has unveiled its new logo in a bid to help build a strong identity through contemporary branding.

The new scheme cost £48,000 to create and its main concepts are simplicity and identity.

Domenic Lippa, a UAL alumnus, designed the logo and took a charge of the project with Pentagram, his design consultancy.

The university's old logo, six stars representing each UAL colleges in a different colour, will mostly be replaced by the start of the new academic year.

Ezri Carleback, Deputy Director of Communication and External Affairs, said that not only does the monochrome logo describe simplicity, it also saves money because it uses less colour when printing.

Strong identity

The previous logo used seven colours, whereas the new logo will only use two.

“We need a strong identity for the university to support the reputations of the colleges and to support our relationships with creative industries, which are so important for our students,” Carleback said.

Lippa explained the importance of the colon in the new logo to emphasise the university's new identity. He said: “The colon is the connection between UAL and the completion of the identity.

“A variety of colleges and variety of creativities exist. So it’s quite a challenge for us. This is a sort of new generation of our expression for the university,” he added.

Minami Takahashi, a student of Foundation Art and Design at Central Saint Martins, said: “Though £48,000 seems expensive for creating a logo, the new logo will bring a fresh feeling to the place and give me more motivation to study.”

It is hoped that the new logo will reel in prospective students and be a great publicity opportunity for the university.