By Curtis Wolff
Fans of the University of Calgary Dinos will be treated to a new look next year, as the Dinos brand is getting a complete overhaul. The university is giving students their first look at the Dinos’s new identity on Wednesday, April 3 at 11 a.m. in the MacEwan Student Centre South Courtyard.
The Dinos will be handing out free shirts and unveiling the new logo at the initial launch event. An updated website will also launch on April 3, although students will have to wait until next fall to see the full impact of the identity change.
In the fall the university will be replacing all of the old Dinos signage and refurbishing the floor of the Jack Simpson Gymnasium to complete the integration of the new identity.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper brand overhaul without new uniforms for the athletes — all Dinos teams will get updated uniforms and will be rocking the new duds during the 2013–14 season. A different company is rumoured to be replacing Under Armour as the supplier for the team’s uniforms and merchandise.
Gone forever will be the current Dinos logo, which has been used by the U of C since 1998. The so-called ‘lizard’ logo — which features a menacing red dinosaur peering over the word ‘Dinos’ — has served the university well, but the U of C is looking to modernize the logo and bring it into the 21st century. The logo is very difficult to embroider onto sportswear and merchandise due to its complexity, and has been abandoned by many of the teams in favour of the Dinos secondary logo, an interlocking ‘U’ and ‘C’.
However, some students are fond of the outgoing logo. “I like it, it looks very vicious,” said first-year nursing student Morgan Mason. “I wouldn’t mind if it was a little less angry, but it looks pretty updated to me.”
Second-year arts student Adam Strashok said he’d be willing to buy some new Dinos merchandise if the logo impressed him. “If it’s really well done and is more unique than other schools’ logos, I would maybe brand myself with it,” said Strashok.
Starting next year, all of the U of C’s athletic teams will be united under one logo. If all goes well with the rebrand, the student population as a whole will also be united under an exciting new Dinos identity.