ABOUT THIS PROJECT

What’s unique about the Aquinas Blugolds?

Let’s start with their nickname, the Blugolds. It’s a color palette and the only use at the high school level of the name Blugolds. It’s a nickname use at the collegiate level by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, but again, at the college level, that’s the only school known as the Blugolds.

There’s a history of teams naming themselves after colors. The Reds and Browns  come to mind (both St. Louis and Cleveland — named after the founder, Paul Brown, but whose last name is shared with the color!). There are sox of colors red or white, tides of crimson, cardinal (not the bird but the color), and royal. But Blugolds are special.

Designing around a color is more abstract than illustrating a mascot. Luckily, St. Thomas Aquinas did a favor for this project. For the past 800 years, Aquinas has been associated with lightning. And lightning lends itself perfectly to sports — it’s unpredictable, dynamic, and in a literal sense, full of energy.

I came to the same conclusion as designers before me, that a bolt of lightning should serve as the main element of the Aquinas Blugolds.

THE TEAMS OF THE CWCC

This is the first of seven unsolicited athletic rebrand projects of The Aesthetic Dept.

Each of these schools 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.)