The University of Sheffield has launched its new rebranding initiative across all university platforms.
The change sparked a petition this week, after some students found it to be unfavourable as it resembles other university logos.
Significant characteristics of the logo design have been shifted to meet accessibility standards that were not previously being met, according to the brand identity page on the university’s website. These changes include simplifying the coat of arms and changing the logo colour to ‘deep violet’.
The university site’s statement reads: “It’s really important that all elements of our brand meet modern accessibility standards and this was the key driver behind the update.”
The university also said that this decision went through a ‘rigorous’ testing and consultation process which involved over 1,500 people.
They clarified that the original coat of arms will still be used in a lot of official documentation such as diplomas.
Since the website makeover, there has also been a few changes in the Students Union, namely the SSID office, which now has the new purple scheme and the new design on the outside.
This rebrand has been received as a shock to many students. One in particular was initially moved to start a petition to stop the launch of the rebrand as soon as he saw the new logo on October 27.
Since the launch came about only a few days after the start of the petition, its new purpose is to reverse the changes that the university has made.
The creator of the petition, a PhD student who has attended the University of Sheffield for eight years, said: “Like I said in the petition, it’s not a thing against change. I am very well aware that change needs to happen.
“Things like the simplification of the logo for digital purposes make so much sense, changing the font slightly so it’s accessible makes a lot of sense.”
A point that was touched on in the petition post is that the new brand identity makes Sheffield blend into other universities with a similar logo colour such as Manchester University, Leeds Beckett University, Loughborough University, and Durham University.
The petition creator added: “I just think the colour change is just quite drastic and the violet, as vibrant as they want to make the new colour scheme, it’s hard to look at and it’s just not suitable.”
