Searching the US Patents & Trademark Office returns a number of UCF trademarks. A few of them were registered April 6th, 2007. The new logo isn't to be announced until June 14th, but I'd imagine thats just so they can get new merchandise put together.
This appears to be the new "UCF" stand alone mark while this looks like the new Knight based logo. I'm desperately trying to reserve judgment, as my initial impression is that it's a step backwards.
I say that not because it's change, but because I believe that branding should be simple and clean. Our current logo(s) annoy me because they're not all that iconic. The Miami U comes to mind, the Ohio State block 'O'. Notre Dame, UNC, Penn State, USC -- the list of iconic, classic, collegiate logos goes on and on. I think it's safe to say that a few years ago, USF joined the club with their branding change. Our knight head, IMO, was the closest we had.
I guess I was just hoping that we would pull off the same as USF did with their rebranding. I believe that it alone helped elevate their program. Instead, I'm left with the feeling that in ten years, UCF will be changing their image again, and that's a shame. It's a missed opportunity. It's like it was done 100% purely for merchandising reasons..
Anyway... I'll give it time. I might warm up to it.
I guess. :\
(hat tip to the kids on various message boards who first turned this up and are discussing the issue)
UPDATE: The links do not work, as they're not permalinks. Search for "UCF" on the trademark site, and they are the marks listed after "Ultimate Chick Fighting" ;) I'd post the pics directly, but it's late, and well.. I don't want to completely ruin the surprise for people..
UPDATE #2: Links to the specific marks work now, just not the search link. Still not going to post the images though, as some folks will still probably prefer to be surprised later. Thanks to Michael Rhing for the updated links.
UPDATE #3: Someone on Rivals leaked the full, high resolution, colorized images of the new logo. They have already been removed. I have to say, they look MUCH better than what is on the trademark site. It's not just the fact that they are in color, it's that there are many more images. I'm still not the biggest fan of the two linked to here, but there is one with the Knight head all by itself. In my opinion, it's pretty badass.
UPDATE #4: Gavin's posted the colorized images.
This appears to be the new "UCF" stand alone mark while this looks like the new Knight based logo. I'm desperately trying to reserve judgment, as my initial impression is that it's a step backwards.
I say that not because it's change, but because I believe that branding should be simple and clean. Our current logo(s) annoy me because they're not all that iconic. The Miami U comes to mind, the Ohio State block 'O'. Notre Dame, UNC, Penn State, USC -- the list of iconic, classic, collegiate logos goes on and on. I think it's safe to say that a few years ago, USF joined the club with their branding change. Our knight head, IMO, was the closest we had.
I guess I was just hoping that we would pull off the same as USF did with their rebranding. I believe that it alone helped elevate their program. Instead, I'm left with the feeling that in ten years, UCF will be changing their image again, and that's a shame. It's a missed opportunity. It's like it was done 100% purely for merchandising reasons..
Anyway... I'll give it time. I might warm up to it.
I guess. :\
(hat tip to the kids on various message boards who first turned this up and are discussing the issue)
UPDATE: The links do not work, as they're not permalinks. Search for "UCF" on the trademark site, and they are the marks listed after "Ultimate Chick Fighting" ;) I'd post the pics directly, but it's late, and well.. I don't want to completely ruin the surprise for people..
UPDATE #2: Links to the specific marks work now, just not the search link. Still not going to post the images though, as some folks will still probably prefer to be surprised later. Thanks to Michael Rhing for the updated links.
UPDATE #3: Someone on Rivals leaked the full, high resolution, colorized images of the new logo. They have already been removed. I have to say, they look MUCH better than what is on the trademark site. It's not just the fact that they are in color, it's that there are many more images. I'm still not the biggest fan of the two linked to here, but there is one with the Knight head all by itself. In my opinion, it's pretty badass.
UPDATE #4: Gavin's posted the colorized images.
