The Catholic institution unveiled the bizarre replacement for the logo everyone seemed to like on Friday at UD Arena.
Saying the response to the new athletic department symbol designed by 160 over90 — the Philly company also behind the Atlantic 10’s logo — has not been positive is an understatement.
Far be it from me to dis art, but …
As a colleague pointed out, the design bares a striking resemblance to the logo used by Piqua High School — an “Indian” colored in using blue and red lines.
Surely it would have been easier and cheaper to hire someone to directly hijack Piqua's logo if this was going to be the outcome.
I would have done it for $11.73.
A Change.org petition has already been started to persuade the university to bring back the "U."
“We are ProUD. We are UD. The update is welcome but please represent the University as the logo traditionally has,” the petition says.
The petitioner — someone claiming to be from Cincinnati and going by the handle ‘a motley motley’ — even doctored up an example of what the new D could look like beside a U.
The new logo had several MyDaytonDailyNews.com readers and social media commenters crying out about disease.
"Flat out looks like 'VD,' a reader with the handle GodBlessAmerica said in a comment on an article about the new logo. "Why didn't they run some 'finalist' logos past Flyer Faithful to vote on? As John McEnroe would say, 'You canNOT be serious!' And as Mark Twain would say, 'The difference between the right word [letter] and the almost right word [letter] is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.' VD?"
No one can blame the university for wanting to update its logo.
The last logo change happened 20 years ago — and change can be a very good thing even though it is not always embraced.
People — especially alumni — take changes to a university’s identity extremely seriously.
I remember the uproar when Ohio University started phasing out the cute Paw logo when I was a co-ed there in the 1990s and replacing it with the current Attack Cat logo.
Wright State drew all sorts of heat when it replaced its viking mascot with a wolf around the same time my classmates and I were chatting "Bobcat forever. Attack Cat never."
Change can be good, but change for change’s sake is stupid. It wastes time, energy and money.
Change should improve the message, not distract from it. The OU Attack Cat, as much as I miss the Paw, does convey a message. Only the very, very, smart fear a cute paw.
I don’t necessarily see “VD” when I look at the new logo, but I definitely do not see UD.
Officials say the “D” is in a font called Vitesse, the French word for speed.
The “V” everyone is seeing isn’t supposed to be a “V” at all. The design to the left of the “D” is supposed to emphasize movement and progress.
Movement and progress?
I suppose “movement and progress” is something every university strives for, but I would not have guessed that is what the design aimed to emphasize. As a national audience learned during March Madness, the university is not called Movement and Progress Dayton.
At first glance, I guessed the design had something to do with “wings” for Dayton Flyers.
I was wrong — and so is this logo.
About the Author
