Aquinas Blugolds Athletics Rebrand
Logo, Identity, Lettering, Script, Uniforms, and Merchandise for High School Athletics
About The Aquinas Blugolds
What’s unique about the Aquinas Blugolds? How about their nickname? It’s a color combination, and the only high school application of Blugolds at the high school level.
There’s a history of teams naming themselves after colors, especially pre-1910. The Cincinnati Reds and the old St. Louis Browns come to mind. (The Cleveland Browns comes to mind, too, but they weren’t quite named after a color. They were named after Paul Brown. But he was kind of named after a color. So, six of one…)
With Aquinas, my guess is it’s likely a reference to the main colors of the University of Notre Dame, playing into my theory that Midwestern Catholic athletic programs like to affiliate themselves with the Fighting Irish. I don’t know this to be true, but I also don’t think I’m wrong.
At any rate, sports branding of color instead of mascots has its challenges. It’s a more abstract exercise than an animal- or occupation-based mascot.
Luckily, it’s St. Thomas Aquinas himself who does a big favor for us. For 800 years, he’s been associated with lightning. And lightning, as we all know, lends itself perfectly to sports. It’s fast, dynamic, unpredictable, and literally full of energy.
I came to the same conclusion as the designer of the previous identity, that a bolt of lightning should serve as the main element for the Aquinas Blugolds.
the Teams of the CWCC
This is one of seven unsolicited athletic rebrand projects.
Each of these teams were previously members of the Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference.
Aquinas Blugolds
(La Crosse, Wis.)
Assumption Royals
(Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.)
Columbus Dons
(Marshfield, Wis.)
McDonnell Macks
(Chippewa Falls, Wis.)
Newman Fighting Cardinals
(Wausau, Wis.)
Pacelli Cardinals
(Stevens Point, Wis.)
Regis Ramblers
(Eau Claire, Wis.)
Football
Soccer
Volleyball
Basketball
Cross Country & Track
Baseball
Merchandise
If you made it this far, thanks for taking a good look. To get a deeper dive into some process images, see more Aquinas Blugolds goodness at Behance.
What’s up next?
I’m working on the next entry in my Meet the Teams of the CWCC series.
Assumption Royals Athletics, the pride of Wisconsin Rapids, will be my focus.
Until then, please share this work with people in your life who support high school sports. That’s how this will grow. Thanks for being a part of the ride!