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[GMU79]

I could see Mason admitting its mistake and releasing a new logo in 3 years.

Let's hope!

 

[GMUgemini]

I’m still curious which logos tested worse than the current one…

 

[The Great PATSby]

I’m still curious which logos tested worse than the current one…

Guaranteed there were several nicer logo options. But Mason choosing the worst one posible is the most Mason thing ever.

 

[GMU79]

Guaranteed there were several nicer logo options. But Mason choosing the worst one posible is the most Mason thing ever.

Or among them.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I’m still curious which logos tested worse than the current one…

I'm curious if they were tested outside the initial focus group, or if our psych department will be writing a case study on groupthink based on this...

 

[2011WinOverVillanova]

I'm curious if they were tested outside the initial focus group, or if our psych department will be writing a case study on groupthink based on this...

How much of the drive to make the new logo came from the new AD compared to President Washington? OR do you think they were both in concert on this?

 

[MasonFanatic]

How much of the drive to make the new logo came from the new AD compared to President Washington? OR do you think they were both in concert on this?

This was driven by President Washington.

 

[gmubrian]

This was driven by President Washington.

Everything I have heard confirms this.

I’m still curious which logos tested worse than the current one…

As unbelievable as it may seem, everyone I have talked to about this that was involved agreed that the final version was the best (or least bad) of all the options. That may explain some of the "it will grow on you" sentiment from those involved to some degree...compared to everything else, it seemed good.

It seems that the effort was somewhat doomed to failure from the start given the guidelines. Instead of just creating the best looking logo for our school, there design guidelines that all designs had to meet. One of the requirements that I think caused the most harm was related to openness which required the ends of the letters to be open, instead of having a traditional contrasting border around a logo that helps it stand out on any background.

They were just asking a mere logo to do too much. So instead, it doesn't do anything very well.

 

[GMU79]

Everything I have heard confirms this.


As unbelievable as it may seem, everyone I have talked to about this that was involved agreed that the final version was the best (or least bad) of all the options. That may explain some of the "it will grow on you" sentiment from those involved to some degree...compared to everything else, it seemed good.

It seems that the effort was somewhat doomed to failure from the start given the guidelines. Instead of just creating the best looking logo for our school, there design guidelines that all designs had to meet. One of the requirements that I think caused the most harm was related to openness which required the ends of the letters to be open, instead of having a traditional contrasting border around a logo that helps it stand out on any background.

They were just asking a mere logo to do too much. So instead, it doesn't do anything very well.

Sad. And stupid.

 

[The Great PATSby]

I know several employees at George Mason and have heard enough stories about GW to get the idea that he's is a real piece of work. Makes sense though. Studies have shown that CEO's often have similiar traits of psychopaths. But it does take a certain person to be in that type of position. I guess as long as he's leading the University in the right direction, he's okay in my books. But the new logo was a colossal mistake.

 

[Walter]

I know several employees at George Mason and have heard enough stories about GW to get the idea that he's is a real piece of work. Makes sense though. Studies have shown that CEO's often have similiar traits of psychopaths. But it does take a certain person to be in that type of position. I guess as long as he's leading the University in the right direction, he's okay in my books. But the new logo was a colossal mistake.

The university is NOT going in the right direction under his leadership.

If not for the BOV curtailing some of his excesses, we would be ODU North. And, yes, I realize that we moved up in US News rankings due to the change in the formula that rewarded his open-admissions approach, but the pendulum is moving back and we will drop like a rock in the rankings when it does.

But, good MBB and WBB HC hires, so I will give him credit for that.

 

[gmubrian]

The university is NOT going in the right direction under his leadership.

If not for the BOV curtailing some of his excesses, we would be ODU North. And, yes, I realize that we moved up in US News rankings due to the change in the formula that rewarded his open-admissions approach, but the pendulum is moving back and will will drop like a rock in the rankings when it does.

But, good MBB and WBB HC hires, so I will give him credit for that.

I have long been in disagreement with the academic side of Mason and thus I focus only on/ only care about athletics or things that impact athletics, which the academics side, obviously, impacts in one or more ways.

That being said, we are in a different era of college education than we were 5 to 10 years ago. There has been a significant drop in enrollments across the nation. You could argue that the bubble has finally burst. If I am remembering statistics from over the summer correctly, Mason is one of the few universities that has improved financially (enrollments up) while most universities have dropped in enrollment and many have even closed. So, in some ways, the move to let more people in may have saved Mason to some degree. I don't know/doubt if he was predicting that and suspect that he did it for other reasons, but, it seems to have been the right move for the times and having good luck never hurts.

 

[gmujim92]

I have long been in disagreement with the academic side of Mason and thus I focus only on/ only care about athletics or things that impact athletics, which the academics side, obviously, impacts in one or more ways.

That being said, we are in a different era of college education than we were 5 to 10 years ago. There has been a significant drop in enrollments across the nation. You could argue that the bubble has finally burst. If I am remembering statistics from over the summer correctly, Mason is one of the few universities that has improved financially (enrollments up) while most universities have dropped in enrollment and many have even closed. So, in some ways, the move to let more people in may have saved Mason to some degree. I don't know/doubt if he was predicting that and suspect that he did it for other reasons, but, it seems to have been the right move for the times and having good luck never hurts.

Spot on, Brian. Also helps in these times to be able to demonstrate ROI on your core programs — graduating with some BS liberal arts degree was fine when you could take a full load of classes for $1,000 a semester, but Mason seems to rank high on the “value” metric and that’s a huge advantage when you’re competing for students and requiring them to cough up six figures for a degree.

All in all, Mason is in a pretty solid place as a university and should keep trying to meet demand where it exists. Certainly beats the alternative.

 

[GSII]

The university is NOT going in the right direction under his leadership.

If not for the BOV curtailing some of his excesses, we would be ODU North. And, yes, I realize that we moved up in US News rankings due to the change in the formula that rewarded his open-admissions approach, but the pendulum is moving back and we will drop like a rock in the rankings when it does.

But, good MBB and WBB HC hires, so I will give him credit for that.

Didn't he get sued by a vendor of the University? I vaguely remember something happening when Mason pulled the contract of vendor. Supplied uniforms or something???

 

[Walter]

Are we “The Athletics”?

 

[GMU79]

Spot on, Brian. Also helps in these times to be able to demonstrate ROI on your core programs — graduating with some BS liberal arts degree was fine when you could take a full load of classes for $1,000 a semester, but Mason seems to rank high on the “value” metric and that’s a huge advantage when you’re competing for students and requiring them to cough up six figures for a degree.

All in all, Mason is in a pretty solid place as a university and should keep trying to meet demand where it exists. Certainly beats the alternative.

I went for $400 a semester.
Four year degree $3,200.
I'll take it!

 

[MasonFanatic]

They were just asking a mere logo to do too much. So instead, it doesn't do anything very well.

Creative design doesn't mix well with design by committee (Hollywood is also demonstrating this lesson repeatedly)