Campus seal now preferred over logo for use on campus-specific items, publications

by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

he campus has a new seal that's been appearing on stationery, mugs, banners and other items over the past few months, yet it isn't new at all.

     Based on the seal that hangs in the Chancellor's Office, which is a version of a faculty design from the mid-20th century, the seal is being used because it highlights the history, academic distinction, and unique contributions of the campus, according to Kathryn Eldred, director of Marketing. Although the campus seal does not replace the now-familiar script U over a block M logo that Marketing designed and rolled out in 1998, it fills a need the logo cannot, Eldred said.

     Soon after the logo was developed, the University system decided to adopt it, and the other four campuses applied colors to the design to make it their own. Eldred said the logo has come to be identified with the system as a whole, rather than the campus. As such, it remains appropriate for use on University documents for the very reason that the campus needed to have an additional, individual symbol, she said, but its use is more appropriate for identifying items of a systemwide nature.

     The official Amherst seal is the preferred mark for identifying items related to the Amherst campus, she said. The campus seal should be used with the words 'University of Massachusetts Amherst' or 'UMass Amherst,' she added.

     Eldred points out that the campus seal is different from the University seal, which can be used only at the discretion of the president or the chancellors. The University seal appears on official trustee documents, such as diplomas. The campus seal looks much like it, but has the word 'Amherst' in addition to '1863' around the bottom.

     Based on a 1940s design by John Robertson, a professor of Landscape Architecture, that was refined in the 1970s, the campus seal sports the same colors as the University seal: maroon, blue and gold. This week Eldred had maroon and gold banners placed at the campus entrances to replace the logo, but she cautions that the transition to using the campus seal everywhere will take some time.

     "It's the very beginning of this whole process," she said. "We're meeting with people like the campus print shop to go over the guidelines, and we will be putting together a mini-guide on the use of the seal for campus people very shortly. We really want to encourage people to work with us so we can maintain a consistent visual identity.

     "Money is a factor. We can't just go out and redo everything, but we're encouraging that new stuff carry the seal.

     "The chancellor has pointed out that if it doesn't say 'Amherst,' then people won't know we did it. He wants the campus to get credit for its top teaching and research."