As part of a year-long rebranding initiative, the highly anticipated new logo was
unveiled during a Feb. 22 event in the DiGiorgio Campus Center. The logo features a bold and elegant eagle inspired by the bronze statue on the front
campus, while the shield shape behind it is found within the official university seal
and class rings.
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA — After 25 years, Winthrop University has a new logo that
honors its past and embodies its future.
As part of a year-long rebranding initiative,the highly anticipated new logo was unveiled
via an inspirational and moving video during a Feb. 22 event in the DiGiorgio Campus Center. It replaces the former logo which was adopted in 1992 once Winthrop converted from
a college to a university.
The new logo features a bold and elegant eagle inspired by the bronze statue on the front campus,
while the shield shape behind it is found within the official university seal and
class rings. The custom "Winthrop" wordmark remains while "University" is larger.
The garnet and gold colors reflect Winthrop's school colors that have been used for
nearly four decades.
President Dan Mahony said the new logo is among several components of the university's long-awaited rebranding
initiative. Other areas include a website redesign, which will be rolled out this
fall with help from partner FMB Advertising, which continues to craft messaging and
design theme for the recruitment of undergraduates.
Additionally, the Graduate School's online partner, Wiley & Sons, recently launched its marketing for prospective graduates interested in one of the
university's online degree programs.
The rebranding initiative is part of the university's strategic plan introduced two years ago and called the
Winthrop Plan. "It soon became clear that refining and highlighting what makes Winthrop
special was very important to our efforts in recruiting, fundraising, and creating
a focus for the pride we all feel for being a part of Winthrop," Mahony said. "Our
primary focus was to emphasize what makes Winthrop unique and hone our messaging to
better resonate with prospective students, support our efforts to grow enrollment
and increase graduation and retention rates."
Since Winthrop's last rebranding effort in 1992, Winthrop has worked to stay true
to the university's traditions and history while also growing and evolving to meet
the challenges of the changing higher education landscape.
As a result, according to Katie Price ˜07, the university's director of marketing, "the Winthrop brand became diluted in an
effort to be all things to all people.
"It was time to refocus — to rediscover who Winthrop is and what truly makes Winthrop
such a special place by working to refresh the visual identity and develop a consistent
brand that would effectively tell the Winthrop story to the world," Price said.
The initiative speaks to the importance of rethinking how to set Winthrop apart from
other colleges and universities, Price said. Through research and an extensive creative
process, university staff learned a great deal about how people feel about Winthrop
and why it's such a special place. Responses from students, alumni, faculty, staff
and donors provided a path to redevelop the way Winthrop presents itself to the world
through both voice and visual identity.
As the university introduces this new branding in its marketing and recruitment efforts
and throughout campus, Winthrop will employ a phased rollout of the new logo that
will continue over the next year and beyond.
Learn more about the rebranding initiative at www.winthrop.edu/ucm/rebrand and view the Frequently Asked Questions section that provides additional insight on the effort.
For more information, contact Katie Price, director of marketing, at pricek@winthrop.edu or at 803/323-2236.
