Welcome to Fan Theories, Varsity Partners’ experimental playground to explore opportunities that strengthen the relationship between sports brands and their fans.
Plainstaking Detail
Background
I believe in Auburn and love it — so much so that I spent the past quarter creating an expansive theoretical brand refresh that I hope Auburn fans and my fellow alumni will enjoy. Given the primary identity tweak released by the University a week ago at the time of this post (strong improvement), I felt it was topical to share thoughts and creative solutions that could bolster the new direction and set my war eagles up for a strong and consistent athletic aesthetic future. Before we talk future, let’s examine the past and present.
Past on the Plains
Tiger athletics history is brimming with nostalgic marks and icons that are begging to be recreated for the modern age. From the old tiger head (originally created for Occidental College) to the eagle swooping through the ‘A’ to the Bo-Jackson-era baseball script, these marks have served the Auburn family well into the present, seeing placement on everything from water bottles to corn hole boards.
The AUsome and not-so-AUsome Present
When I began my process, the primary overlapping AU mark was in a rough place. A week ago, Auburn remedied that situation by releasing an identity tweak (pictured) to streamline the mark for added versatility, correcting the main issues I saw. Though it doesn’t seem to be popular opinion, I love the crisp simplicity this new direction brings with it.
However, the surrounding brand elements, colors and athletic typography from the recent present that still exist (for now) are lacking in authenticity and inconsistent in application.
Color
One of the biggest challenges Auburn currently faces is consistency in color, specifically with its orange. Next time you’re in Jordan-Hare for a game, take a look at the 11 different oranges throughout the stadium.
In determining the proper orange to use, the first thing I created for the project was a color study to assess the blue/orange landscape on my way to updating and consolidating the color palette, specifically in relation to the orange(s).
Auburn actually lists two different oranges for professional use on its academic site. With knowledge gained from the color study, I replaced the two with a single Pantone 1585 orange. It’s a nice blend of the two oranges currently in use and differentiates itself enough from the comparative set.
Primary Identity
Admittedly, although pleasantly so, the primary mark update caught me by surprise. I debated as to whether I should use what I initially created or go with the shiny new mark. I compromised by combining the new mark with the direction I’d taken — adding the slab serif to the top of the ‘A’ to hearken back to the standalone ‘A’ mark of Auburn’s past, retaining the balance and flexibility of the new mark while integrating history.
Primary Logotype
I wanted to move away from Copperplate and create an own-able logotype that represented Auburn’s steel resolve and toughness. As more and more schools upgrade to custom logotypes and typefaces for their athletic departments, I thought it imperative that Auburn stay on par and look the part of a polished Power Five program.
Secondary Logotypes
No Auburn brand is complete without the phrase ‘War Eagle’. I extended the logotype typeface to bring in our rally cry / greeting / all-purpose phrase.
Secondary Marks
All that talk about past marks screaming to be modernized? The script from the Bo Jackson days, the eagle soaring through the ‘A’ and the classic standalone ‘A’ were the inspiration for all of the above.
While the old script and eagle are fun in a vintage way, they look too dated to feature prominently in application anywhere (outside of water bottles and corn hole boards). The focus here was streamlining and simplifying wherever I could to bring a level of polish to each mark. I changed up the positioning of the eagle to give off more of a swoop as the current one looks like he may be stuck in that counter space. I also wanted to use the same slab ‘A’ across all applications, so every slab ‘A’ that you see — from the primary identity to the spirit and legacy marks is consistent in weight and structure.
Aubie
In reimagining Aubie, I took on the tough task of modifying a mascot in the mascot hall of fame.
Aubie has worn several faces through the years (pictured) whether it be Phil Neel’s classic, the Occidental Aubie head, or Aubie as we know him today.
The problem with today’s Aubie is how he’s illustrated — the blobby stripes, the crazy line-weight variations and general lack of symmetry. Cleaning him up would be a great start for the program.
For the sake of the exercise, I created a new take by bringing some of Occidental Aubie’s personality to today’s Aubie to make for a refined icon with the same trademark Aubie spirit.
Multiple executions and color ways were considered to bring consistency no matter the application.
In addition, I explored a variant mascot mark pairing Aubie and our eagle, Spirit. While both are synonymous with Auburn, they’re never seen paired together and I don’t know what says ‘War Eagle’ more than this. There’s a lot of opportunity for experimentation with this dynamic duo…brb, going to draw Aubie in an eagle suit.
Typography
Outside of color consistency, typography is the most glaring weakness in the current Auburn brand system. I did see the typeface Sabon was announced along with the primary identity refresh but I find it hard to believe that this typeface will be used outside of academic applications.
This leads us to the wonders of Copperplate. No need for my opinion when a good old fashioned Copperplate hunt can speak for me. For your reference, see below for the fruits of my hunt. Tread softly.
The solution is a custom typeface Auburn can use to build brand equity. The Plainsman typeface is meant to carry a sporty, industrial aesthetic that reflects our background as a polytechnic school. Slightly condensed, it pairs nicely with the extended slab serif logotypes. This is where Auburn has the most to gain in its brand system, improving its brand ownership by moving away from a typeface everyone has access to and joining the upper echelon of Power Five schools that have their own custom typefaces.
Numerals
While Plainsman has its own numeral set, I found great inspiration for jersey numbers elsewhere. When walking through Jordan-Hare, I noticed some really awesome old row marker numerals lining the steps in the lower bowl.
Jersey design brings brand elements together. While this is only one tactical execution, it harnesses many of the elements we’ve reviewed.
Baseball
Basketball
Football
Track
Summary
There isn’t much I love more than the Auburn Tigers; I’d like to think it shows in this theoretical refresh. At Varsity, we pride ourselves on digging into the details that matter to craft unique solutions that resonate with a fan base. I hope you’ve enjoyed gleaning some insight into our process, we’d love the opportunity to share more with you! If you’d like to talk about a challenge you’re facing, get in touch here.
Afterward
Fan Theories is brought to you by Varsity Partners, a design led, fan forward design agency providing creative and strategic solutions for brands and sports properties.
