So some neat stuff in the materials put out from the Board of Visitor's meeting.
1. Is a complete breakdown o all our Athletic Branding, and surprising inconsistencies in the VT Logo proportions. And some concept designs and apparel starting slide 26 from Nike.
2. Goforth broke down NCAA and VT initiatives to combat concussions, and it looks like combined with the helmet testing VT is very in front of this.
3. Page 59 is a baller promo for Bristol as part of a presentation from and about the role of the 2 football recruiting staff members.
4. SHIT never thought they would have a handy map, current Virginia recruiting assignments by coach by county.
5. Looks like Kalvin Cline was even one of the speakers for the AD, high trust in the man, but between toughing it out on the team and in the Corps that is no surprise.
6. Some neat potentials for expanding Campus out West at the end, and Sands has firmed up that by 2022 they are expecting enrollment to be between 29-30k.
Sports: http://www.bov.vt.edu/documents/Open_Session_Materials/Student_Affairs_a...
The rest: http://www.bov.vt.edu/BOV_Open_Session_Materials.html
Comments
Also just saw in the building one. Pearson Hall, the replacement for Rasche on Upper Quad is currently over 30 days behind schedule, with less then 90 days until it is needed to be in use.
Somebody is going to be getting some overtime!
(It's usually lead time problems. Probably waiting on a bunch of light fixtures to come in. It's always the lights. Or carpet.)
Its precast trim issues, which led to stone delays, etc, etc.
watch out those liquidated damages will get ya!
Wow, thanks for posting.
A LOT of info there.
Interesting to see into the minds of the decision makers.
Rebranding, expansion/growth, emphasis on recruiting, bigger social media presence, health upgrades.....much to absorb.
A lot of info there. Pretty cool. A few things that are just my opinion.
That VTech symbol looks horrible and too cartoony. All the other "just for fun" symbols sucked I though.
Recruiting slides looked awesome. The us v them slides are great. Too bad they had to give Golden a nod for a "tie" in the coastal division as a win even though they didn't go to the ACCCG. The social media slide of UVA is great.
We better have our shit together in 2021.....that's a hell of an out of conference schedule.....ND, WVU and Michigan. If we don't have the toughest schedule that year then that's because those other teams suck horribly.
Agree on the new symbol ideas. The purple-ish feathers on the Hokie bird look bad, and the others look like eagles. We're not BC. The cutesy rounded VT logos are atrocious. We looked bad enough using Comic Sans on offer letters a few years back, there's no reason to make our freaking logo the same (bad) font...
WVU might not even be a power 5 school by 2021...
Those just for fun logos just need to go in the trash. The side profile Hokie bird looks like it came from a template and you could sub a number of other mascots in there.
Agreed. I think it is also time to switch from Nike if they are using the same orange for us and Clemson. They seemed to be able to create/find a unique maroon for FSU and a unique orange for Tenn and Texas...
This is what really gets me. Clemson orange is not Virginia Tech orange. If we used our correct color, I'd be perfectly fine with some of those orange effect uniforms of late.
I just looked up the brand standard pms color orange for Tech and clemson. There is a clear difference in the oranges. I guess somebody got lazy and was like screw it just throw these schools in the orange bucket. How do you allow your brand standard to be changed like that?
I thought the same thing...they're not even close.
On the non-sports side of things and as a new grad, I'm not very happy about the planned expansion of the undergraduate student body. Plus, the 4 reasons given for expansion seem pretty vague/lame. Just a thought
What makes you say this? Just curious.
Two things really. First, Tech already accepts rough 70% of applicants to the school. The average applicant is higher academically, but there is a fine line and accepting more students has the potential to dilute the academic prestige built in the last 2 decades. Tech essentially stands alone in Virginia academically, with the "top tier schools" (Uva, William and Mary, W & L) being mainly liberal arts schools. Second, Tech has done a good job at maintaining a "small school feel" with big school opportunities. I think its one of the main reasons students come to the school, and a big factor in how people come to love it so much. Idk, maybe I'm wrong, but idk if growing the school would result in this still being the deal
I hear ya' but in the end its a done deal.
VT needs to expand its student base numbers to maintain viability and increase alumni base.
Its all about the $$.
I paraphrase the big man Dr Sands himself on this....he felt/feels one of the biggest needs at VT is larger student body.
I'd wager that certain majors (engineering/technology) have a much higher bar. I'm not worried that we'll start accepting under-qualified students.
As far as the "small school feel," I don't think we'll lose this. Our campus is so well designed, and so compact - I know VT has a lot of land, but 80% of all activities done by VT students on campus are done in the land between Lane and Surge, which are only about a mile apart.
I think higher education is going to change drastically after the next decade, and I think some of this expansion is in preparation for that. We will see the 'education bubble' pop, sort of like the housing market did. Lectures will become outdated, professors will become mentors, technology and collaboration will be required in all classes (not just engineering design courses). It will be important for schools to have large alumni/donor bases to combat this. Will be interesting to see if this plays out, and if so, how VT (and other universities) adapt.
What report section and page is that on? Trying to read while in class.
The general description is just in the general info section. I haven't found the detail report/discussion yet.
The recruiting presentation is awesome. I really like page 48: signing day, game day, graduation day and draft day "Let the hat tell your story"
Can anyone post that picture? I'm in class and can't.
Love the Cav man falling off his high-horse (pun intended) on slide 76.
I like the idea behind the expansion concept, but I hate the location. That golf course was my place to regain my sanity on Fridays throughout my 4 years. Campus is big enough that they could relocate the 9 holes remaining, but I don't see that happening. I think the existing layout could accomplish the Quad idea as they have it, if they would repurpose/renovate some of the existing buildings rather than aim for an entirely new area.
Also is Loeffler responsible for a whole bunch of OOS recruiting territory? It seems like with the deficiency of the offense the last couple of years, the OC should have more than 4 counties (and four closest to Blacksburg) of recruiting territory. I would imagine recruits get a better impression from someone higher up the coaching ladder coming to visit.
He is the recruiter when it comes to QBs, regardless of their location. And he and Bud will make appearances as needed, no matter the recruit's location.
Those recruiting areas are just the areas those coaches keep tabs on for prospect identification and H.S. relations. Foster has a pretty small in-state area as well. I think that's because they're busy.. coordinating.
When it comes to recruiting an individual prospect, the position coach is heavily involved.
Speaking of recruiting territories, looks like Coach Grey has my county. Maybe I need to get out there and show coach some of my moves. . .
I hear your best move is performed in the bathroom. Not sure Coach Grey wants to see that...
If Coach would have put you in in the 4th, you would have taken state. No doubt in my mind.
Our lacrosse team has the best set of jersey's imo
That was a lot of material to digest. It's really starting to look like the dawn of new era for Tech on a lot of fronts. Thanks for posting this, otherwise I never would have known to go looking for it.
Lots to digest here, and I like it all.
First, the possible rebrand, I think is something we're in dire, dire need of. We to standardize the logo we use (I mean, that one graphic where they transpose the outlines of 4 of the VT's we use and the dimensions are off in each is just bad) and we need to standardize the maroon and orange colors we use. Right now, academically, we officially use different shades of orange and maroon than we everywhere else. That side to side shows the difference, and we need to go to those new colors. Those colors have become the Virginia Tech look, and its about time we finalized it.
As for the redesign itself... Ehhh, I think its a decent start, and I love the fact that Nike is trying to work with us to make us fresh. We desperately need that, but I'm not sure that's the way to go about it. I do think a new look for the Hokiebird might be a good idea, and those proposals aren't exactly bad, but I kinda want to see what else they can come up with. A good starting point, so to speak. As for the VT itself, I actually would prefer if we switched purely to the Current Mark w/One Stroke & New Colors. Ditch the double outline and it actually makes the look stronger.
And I have seen some talk about the new proposed residential campus. I have actually known about this for a while, and while I probably shouldn't say too much about it before its made official, I can tell you that it'll be a game changer for the University when its done, and will completely revolutionize the collegiate experience for those who can utilize that space. This is definitely something to keep your eye on.
It is amazing how bad the entire university is at graphic design and the applications of those graphic standards.
That's what I am wondering. As a designer i've worked with schools that anything we did had to go to the graphics department for approval. A school as big as tech should have a somewhat decent graphics department.
...yeah...
I've personally worked with the Licensing Dept quite a bit over the last year and a half or so, and really, dealing with them is nothing but headaches. You can get something approved, and within 6 months, they'll start rejecting use because they made unannounced policy changes that impact your designs.
Could be why there is such a variety of logo looks. That or nobody wants to deal with the headache and says screw it lets do it this way.
Yeah, its just a bad free for all right now, especially athletically.
We have no standard VT athletic font. Sure, the one the men's basketball program uses should be it, and while it has been adopted fairly well, we're still struggling with Women's Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Men's Soccer, and Women's Soccer all blatantly using a variety of fonts except our standard. This badly needs to be fixed and standardized to our official typeface across the entire brand.
Then, of course, there is the numerous ways the VT is interpreted throughout the athletic dept, with no standard dimension allowing for there to be the ridiculously thin VT on the walls, or the comically stretched VT's on Lane's iron gates, or even still places in Cassell where you can see the VT with HOKIES scripted across it. Looks pretty unprofessional when its compiled like that.
That's the best way to sum it up as a free for all. Who's the person that would correct this problem though? The president? Graphics department? Might be pretty hard for people to fall in if it has been like this for long.
The licensing department should stamp every application of the logo. There should be a graphic standard where you can go on the VT server and download one logo, one pantone color definition.
The problem that is highlighted here is that the cart and horse are both out of the barn. This crap is everywhere and is expensive to fix. But the sooner you set tough review/approval standards, the sooner it will clear up. It's not unusual for universities to have this problem (UVA has two different logos that they use, the cross sabers is hated by the academic side). The athletic department should button up their side first.
At one point I remember seeing the VT athletic logo as being comprised of a series of equilateral triangles. Maybe this was a person's suggestions, but it looked nice and easy to do at home. If this was the standard it would make the dimensioning of all the logos much easier.
From what I've seen the academic side is under control, I just found the 2015 brand standard online. I don't think the problem is from the logo itself. It is more like people saying lets stretch that son bitch and put it on there.
Something like this???
NERDDDDDDDDSSS!
Yea I was intrigued by the Residential College area concept for a few reasons.
1. Is it provides a nice compliment to the dynamic the VTCC has going on Upper Quad (which will be top notch once all 3 new buildings are done and Thomas and Monteith become green space) so you can have all the resources and shape the environment to a much larger degree then currently with them right in the traditional residential area.
2. I like who we are looking for guides. Yale, and Nothwestern it looks like. It says A LOT about Tech that that is who we are comparing ourselves to when it comes to on campus support for education and the dynamic we want.
DBU, LPD, and Sacksburg? I like the sound of that. Now we gotta get something for just the linebackers.
I was hoping there would be something for the offense, maybe around the great RBs we have had in the last decade or something with the QBs and highlighting the Vicks, Taylors, Randalls, and Thomas' of the program. We need to step up our offensive recruiting efforts and it looked neglected here.
uhmm that VT shirt with the hokie stone pocket..... i would buy every L they every make because that is fully tfrucking dipped in dork magic!! Page 28 for everyone!!!! Page 45 on is absolutely BOSS as well!
Thomas Guerry and Chuck Cantor are exactly what we needed. Both come from big time schools and now how to create excitement within recruiting and brand awareness.
Guerry needs a new haircut, he has the typical SEC fratboy bangs and borderline bowl cut. We are in the ACC, step it up.
I gotta say the helmet for the furman game looks awesome. I know there's been a thread on it and it's basically the same design that Navy ran last year but I think it's one of the better alternate helmets we have come up with.
Agreed, its awesome!
So out of curiosity, I tracked down our current 2015 Brand Guide and on Page 55 it now shows this little interesting tidbit:
Yeah... Va Tech just became a university endorsed abbreviation.
It doesn't bother me when written. I can understand it in a scoreboard or a news ticker. I hate when it's used verbally, which doesn't seem to be a condition allowed here. It's a space thing, not an official reference. And after all, VA is the state abbreviation, so it does make sense.
That's the thing... 'Informal' situations can cover a very broad base when you're referencing talking heads on ESPN. As long as ESPN keeps using Virginia Tech in their articles, I'm pretty sure they're in the clear going forward.
This also basically just endorsed how ESPN always uses 'VA TECH' in their score widgets during broadcasts. I hated it before, but I guess we're just going to have to get used to it. No going back now that the school is allowing it.
I read that as well and died a little inside.
*looks at page 27*
*vomits*
what you did there.. I see it
Yeah, I hate revenue planning too.
I still have a copy of the open session materials pdf open from this morning, but I didn't realize it so I downloaded a newer copy just now. They have removed 7 pages from it including the concept logos and font and the slide comparing the stretching of the logo.
maybe one of the concept logos was for the game vs Ohio State? I could see one of those gobbler logo's on our helmet this year :(
Good catch... Yeah, they eliminated all of the potential new looks. Which is interesting in and of itself that they would do that.
Makes me think there might be something to that redesign and that was a sneak peak of the directions we're currently exploring. Something was leaked to the general public that wasn't supposed to be there.
I hope those were thumbnail sketches cause....damn
I'm gonna go ahead and take some screen shots and make sure I keep that original pdf file in a safe place, just because I know they don't want me having it.
You may want to delete all post relating to said information.
Fool! Now they know you have the original! You'd better hide and pray they don't send Sam Rogers after you.
this is great. Feels like some Pentagon Papers level stuff haha!
Anyone have those pages saved that they can share?
I was wondering where the heck that stuff was! Everyone's referring to concept logos and I'm just over here going "WHAT PAGE?"
Me too. Someone needs to post them.
I saw them and...
My eyes the googles do nothing!
Great reference! Leg!
Here are my screen grabs with the original version's page numbers for reference to previous posts.
Page 22:
Page 24:
Page 25:
Page 26:
Page 27:
Page 28:
I HATE the curved edges of the VT logo. Looks terrible. Much more striking with the hard corners. Basically everything there expect the apparel at the end blows, big time.
Yep... the rounded edges don't do anything for me... That being said, middle row, left column... that should be our Official logo going forward. Bring our official colors in line with what we actually wear and are nationally and internationally known for (seriously, internationally... first hand experience) and eliminate the double outline. Nice, bold, clean look.
I'd love to have a hat with Hokie Stone under the bill.
And you can already get at least one of those shirts already anyway. I have the orange version of the top middle one.
If you stare at the overlap on Page 24 long enough the lines start to move...
the gestapo is on your ass now!
I don't mind the font on page 22, but I'm a big fan of the current font. I don't want to see that change.
The rounded edges on the logo are god awful. I'd be pissed if they changed to that. Also, leave the Hokie Bird logos alone.
I don't like the Hokie Bird staring right at you, but the profiles aren't horrible.
Actually, when you realize the profile views have their shapes derived from the shape of Virginia, its actually not bad. Definitely could use some further development to get it right, but if this is the direction we're going with a pending redesign in the coming years, I'm all for it.
Really? I don't like it at all. I don't care if it's in the shape of Virginia, it looks generic and boring.
This is the Hokie bird:
It's unique, has character. What they have there is definitely not an improvement IMO.
From a design perspective, that Hokiebird design is a mess, an absolute mess. Still bothers me to this day there is that gap in the black border near the crown of the head. and the fact the neck portion of it doesn't match with the full bodied Hokiebird. And then it looks like he got sucker punched and is hiding a black right eye.
It needs a refresh with a graphic designer's touch.
I don't think it's a gap so much as a raised eyebrow, a bit exaggerated. This design is one of my favorites; to me it says "come at me, bro."
I'm not saying not to redesign it, but what they have there is not the answer.
Clearly not... I hate the fact they're using multiple shades of maroon in each, and the general shape of the heads just aren't right. And I really don't care for the oversaturation of "squinty eyes and a snarl to make the mascot look mean" that is prevalent right now.
But.... I am glad to see we're starting to go down the path of a redesign and a brand refresh. We're in need of one. These specifically might not be the best path to go down, but its a start.
They need to work a subtle accent color into them. Adding other shades of maroon or orange isn't the answer.
The right eye is a little 'cock-eyed.'
Hey, did you hear about the baby born at MRH with no eyelids? Turns out they used his foreskin to make eyelids for him. But get this, now his mom is suing the hospital. Typical right? She says they made the boy cock-eyed.
Bah-zing!!!
Wait, I was born at MRH...
You know who else has the mascot in state.....ECU.
ODU also.
and they both look awesome
Agree that the curved VT's look garby. But sign me up for one of those shirts with the Hokie Stone pockets pls.
bottom right hokie looks something like oregon's duck feathers on their sleeves. could this happen with VT colors??
Hey they could always put a maroon or orange gobbler thingy dangling from the facemask/beak for us (*ducks/hides)
What's the deal with the turkey feet? Are they 'churdishnul?' They look like turd fingers.