MC 327 Proposal Plan

By Lexi Tichler and Elena Schulz

We will be doing our Multimedia project on the new SIUE logo and the funding as well as why it was changed. We plan to make a podcast that will talk about everything that went into making the new logo and opinions from the Edwardsville community. Also, we plan on interviewing SIUE faculty and students with their thoughts on the new logo as well as the Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Department, Kendra Tolson.

The old SIUE logo was presented in 2009 and was here until 2023 when the big E was introduced. The font was created by a designer and originally had the name of a sports team underneath the SIUE letters making it a little sportier. The new logo is more institutional looking.

The logo was changed because the chancellors council felt like the brand needed to evolve to reflect the areas they want to highlight by SIUE’s growth. People questioned why the E was lowercase and whether it meant SIUE was the smaller sister school to Carbondale.

The logo was voted on by more than 7,000 SIUE students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. The University Marketing and Communications said that they believe the new cougar logo matches the bold direction they are headed towards with SIUE. A modernized version of the legendary cougar that symbolizes the spirit and pride in the university. It powerfully reflects the value, strength and ambition of the institution.

Our podcast will be around 5-10 minutes long. We will start our podcast with an intro and then move into talking about the old logo and what it represented. We then will talk about the transition into the new logo and maybe add some interviews from the students and faculty with their opinions. Then we will talk about why the logo changed and the funding, like how much it cost the university to rebrand. SIUE has also completely revamped the Sam M. Vadalabene Center where the basketball court is located with the new logo. We will add in our interview with the Executive Director of the Marketing and Communications Department, Kendra Tolson. Also, we will end our podcast with an outro.

The importance of a logo is to help show and promote SIUE’s reputation and brand identity. The cougar head represents a modernized version of the cougar pride and spirit.

Along with the new logo, SIUE also revamped the mascot, Eddie the Cougar. Who wears #57 to commemorate SIUE’s founding in 1957. Along with the new logo and new Eddie, SIUE also officially changed the university colors from red and black to red and white.