UL's Logo Crisis

[Sonsissymia]

_ My favorite was when Tulane had a dude in a wave suit that looked like Gumby. It was as embarrassing to look at as Cayenne.

I remember the last time we beat Tulane in New Orleans sometime back in the 90's (early 90s that is) and we had gotten Gumby so mad at us that he flipped us the bird!

Good times, good times. _

damn, i had forgotten about the walking wave. truth be told, it was even WORSE than the pepper. and the thing was HUGE. just awful.

[Turbine]

A gator isn't unique. It may be interesting. It may be inspiring. You can argue that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

It may be all of these things, but the point is immaterial. If we use any variation of a gator, we will always be viewed as nothing more than Florida copy-cats.

. . .

By your argument, we should have kept what was cool and generic-- and interesting and inspiring-- not what was un-cool, uninspiring, but unique. By your argument, we should still be the Bulldogs.

And I don't think you believe that.

Now, the Catahoula hound is unique, and can be inspiring. But the breed is not widely recognized outside of Louisiana.

. . .

PS Just why DID you leave the pelican off of the CURRENT poll?

I happen to think a Vermilion Red BullGator named Zydeco would be the most unique fun mascot on the planet. It is for fun . . . Cajun Fun that is.

If people want to create a UL buzz about a school in Florida having a plain green gator mascot before UL used a Vermilion Red BullGator then the opportunity for promotion goes though the roof. Besides we have the fair and balanced comeback in having The Swamp first.

My argument for the Red BullGator isn't something I consider "cool and generic" its cool and unique and compendious in that it not only fits Louisiana to a "T" but it fits UL as well. For example Louisiana has the world’s largest Alligator population and Lafayette has the largest 'Alligator' hide tannery in the world. It fits UL

I left the pelican off the current poll because it generated very little interest in the previous one. (The one I can't find)

Now you know I am not anti pelican I used it here as a header graphic back in 2002-03. Its flipped silhouette is in use by BooksXYZ today, and I think it is great.

. . .
BTW, once when I came on here, I saw a great photo of a pelican flying, but I've never seen it again. ???

I just don't like it as a mascot/spirit leader. I also know you have solid credentials in that area.

jmo

[CajunFun]

I happen to think a Vermilion Red BullGator named Zydeco would be the most unique fun mascot on the planet. It is for fun . . . Cajun Fun that is.

If people want to create a UL buzz about a school in Florida having a plain green gator mascot before UL used a Vermilion Red BullGator then the opportunity for promotion goes though the roof. Besides we have the fair and balanced comeback in having The Swamp first.

My argument for the Red BullGator isn't something I consider "cool and generic" its cool and unique and compendious in that it not only fits Louisiana to a "T" but it fits UL as well. For example Louisiana has the world’s largest Alligator population and Lafayette has the largest 'Alligator' hide tannery in the world. It fits UL

I left the pelican off the current poll because it generated very little interest in the previous one. (The one I can't find)

Now you know I am not anti pelican I used it here as a header graphic back in 2002-03. Its flipped silhouette is in use by BooksXYZ today, and I think it is great. I just don't like it as a mascot/spirit leader. I also know you have solid credentials in that area.

jmo

You think the bullgator is cool. I think it's derivative.

I think the pelican has great psychological, marketing and political value. You don't see it, or you don't think the value is enough.

So for now, it's moot.

One correction: the booksXYZ logo came from my own work... but not by my intent.

I studied art at UNT, and used to occasionally do watercolors. I took a lot of pictures of pelicans and painted a large paper (about 4' wide) of a flying pelican as a gift for friends of the family who had taken care of me when I was at Tulane Med. (It was destroyed along with their cottage in Waveland by Katrina.)

Anyway, when I moved into my house about 18 years ago, I did a complete remodeling. I had this idea that I wanted a mosaic in my counter top, so I dug out my photos of pelicans, and used one of them to make the mosaic below (and cracking those tiles into tiny pieces the size & shape I needed turned out to be a real beech).

After Katrina, a printer on the west coast committed $250K in printing to help us with schools (we've used about $20K, and we haven't figured out how to use it all; they say they're still committed to helping us). They also had a design studio, so I asked for help with a new logo for booksXYZ. The NY Public Library uses a lion, as does Readerville, and I liked those. With that, the Open Source movement uses a lot of marine motifs (dolphin, penguin, manatee, square-rigger, etc.) and since we are built on Open Source technologies, I thought a pelican would be nice (ultoday article coming up soon on the pelican... the history is pretty interesting).

So I sent them a bunch of photos of pelicans to work with. I really only included the pix of my counter top as an afterthought, because it wasn't a photo of a real pelican.

As it turned out, one guy took it, cleaned it up, and immediately two of the other designers picked up his logo and incorporated it into their design work for us. When three different graphic designers converge on a concept, it's a pretty good endorsement. So ironically, I had to go all the way to L.A. for a new logo, only to end up using my own design. (Now that I think about it, maybe I was hoisted on my own pétard, caught ignoring my own arguments about building on our own work & traditions... )

Anyway, the pelican I got from RP is a different one, that we used for the United Louisiana Cajuns, and which may turn up in other ways in the future.

[CajunCanaille]

Whether it be a Bullgator, a Pelican, or simply bringing back Cajun Man, I think we are all in agreement that the pepper must go. In fact it seems all of current and former UL students outside of this thread are in agreement that the pepper must go. But talking here doesn't do much good. I doubt Julie Dronet (aka Logo Police) or whoever is in charge of the mascot design reads this website. So someone needs to relay the message. Someone needs to find out what needs to be done to get a new mascot.

Maybe when they have SGA voting they should put an option on their to pick the next UL mascot. It would be a good way to get students involved in making a decision for athletics as well as getting them out to vote for SGA (for whatever that's worth).

In saying all that we need to pick a mascot and stick with it. The pepper shouldn't be our mascot but when we choose this next mascot we should stick with this mascot for many, many years. Same goes for the logo. Lets eliminate the numerous logos we have and stick to, maybe, 2.

[AirBill]

Didn't someone suggest something like this a while back? I think it more than makes the point.

[CajunCanaille]

I see that this has officially turned into a logo / mascot thread as most of these ussually do.

I am going to add to my previous post and say that I no longer like the Catahoula dog. I have lived in Lafayette for 26 years and I don't even know what one of those looks like. If it's native to our area they must be close to extinction.

The gator is a great idea but having a gator mascot and playing in the swamp is way too similar to Florida. I understand we came up with the swamp first but it's still too similar.

The pelican seems to be the most origional (even though Tulane used it at one point) and the one that makes the most sense out of the above mentioned ideas. But it's another thing that while it's common to our state, I don't ever see a pelican flying anywhere in Lafayette.

I was think of why not maintaining the UL logo and just changing our mascot to something local. Something fun that represents our area and culture. When people from outside our state think of Louisiana they think of Mardi Gras. So why not incorporate Mardi Gras into our athletic program and university. There are tons of costumes that are worn during Mardi Gras that could be used as a mascot costume. The mascot could get the crowd involved by throwing beads and playing off the whole Mardi Gras tradition. May be a stupid idea but I'm just trying to think of things other than the norm. Something that could symbolize a Ragin Cajun.....just a thought.

I put a variety of UL logos used on this website that are really good. One of which we are already using.

As for the Mardi Gras mascot.....of course you would have to substitue all the colors and use Vermilion, White and prabobly a littel black to make it the school mascot. CAJUN MAN was a great mascot too.
GEAUX CAJUNS

[CajunCanaille]

Forgot to post the Mardi Gras mascot picture.....

[Cover2]

Let's go with a GIANT U and L. Just two big honkin' letters. Make them out of foam, or like the super sumo wrestling suits. Give em eyes like the gel blobs in the Dr. Scholl's commercials. Of course, there will have to be two (or more) humans willing to suit up in giant letters and walk around during the games. Can you imagine the conversation...

"Man, that sure is a huge U. And look at that, a huge L!"
"Yep, those are our mascots."
"Well, I see no reason to ask how they are related to your university."
"Excellent!"

That'll minimize the confusion!

[RaginFan2]

Didn't someone suggest something like this a while back? I think it more than makes the point.

How about using this fleur de lis? It won't be confused with the Saints' one. I actually think it looks pretty sharp. Picture it on the helmet. (Oh no, not a transition to a helmet thread!)

[Turbine]

Didn't someone suggest something like this a while back? I think it more than makes the point.

I once used a similar graphic and merged the look into a design that incorporated the 2 L's (1 inverted) from UL to make a 'U' along with Ragin' Cajuns and the BullGator in the University of Louisiana's Cypress Swamp.

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