KTIV, IA
09-26-07
Iowa State Unveils New Look
This will be Iowa State's home football uniform in 2008.
Ames, IA--The Iowa State University athletics department unveiled today a new
primary mark for all of its sports teams and a return to its traditional cardinal and
gold color scheme for team uniforms and retail merchandise. The logo and colors
will debut in 2008.
The new mark– a cardinal-colored capital “I” with a gold-colored “State”
superimposed over it – earned a strong majority in an online vote of fans last
month.
“More than 35,000 people voted for their preference on cyclones.com and the
clear choice was the ‘Iowa State’ mark,” Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard
said.
Pollard also added that the department is not abandoning the use of Cy as the
school mascot.
“Much like Disney – which has branded itself with the “ears” but still uses Mickey
in its promotions – and McDonalds – which has branded itself with the golden
arches but still uses Ronald McDonald in its promotions – we will continue to
showcase Cy as our mascot,” Pollard said.
The media conference also included a surprise announcement by Pollard that the
football team will be showcasing the new graphic on a cardinal-colored helmet.
“I believe the most important message from this process is that we listened to our
fan base,” Pollard said. “Our staff initially proposed the concept of a white helmet
to help make our new helmet logo stand out. However, the white helmet,
according to many fans, conflicted with our stated desire to return to our
traditional cardinal and gold colors. As a result, we’ve chosen a cardinal helmet
because it’s what the majority of our fans desired.”
The department solicited written feedback and more than 1,500 individual emails
were received and reviewed.
“We felt that asking for input from our fan base was critical, unique and in this
case, very helpful,” Pollard said. “Our helmet, coupled with the completely redesigned football uniform – cardinal jerseys with gold pants at home and white
jerseys with either cardinal or gold pants on the road – has helped us re-align
with our traditional school colors.”
After the victory over Iowa two weeks ago, which featured ISU wearing replica
1977 Peach Bowl jerseys, there was a great deal of feedback from fans urging
an adoption of those uniforms as the permanent gameday look. Two of the mostprominent features of those uniforms – the re-introduction of gold and the
shoulder piping – are, indeed, integrated into what the Cyclones will wear
beginning in 2008.
“The Cyclones’ colors are cardinal and gold,” first-year football coach Gene
Chizik said. “We’re one of only two schools in the BCS with cardinal and gold as
their stated school colors and we’re excited and proud to be showcasing them
next fall.”
Iowa State’s school colors have been listed as cardinal and gold since 1899.
Over time, many shades of cardinal and gold have appeared on team uniforms.
“There’s a feeling that our colors have bled into a brighter red and less of a
cardinal red,” Pollard said. “The new colors will feature a richer, deeper cardinal,
and the current gold. Lastly, we’re moving away from the blue accents which had
become too prominent in a number of applications.”
Pollard said the new mark and colors will extend to all 18 Iowa State sports
teams and the athletics department as a whole. What started out as a football
uniform and helmet update after the hiring of Chizik, led to the department
closely examining its entire identity package.
“What we found was that there wasn’t clarity or consistency in our identity or
team apparel. Our colors had become red with a significant amount of blue and
white in the merchandise, marks and uniforms,” Pollard said. “Our coaches also
said that when recruiting out of state, most people do not equate our present
mark with Iowa State. There is confusion with other schools sharing a similar
abbreviation and/or mascot and there is a general disconnect with recruits and
people outside of the state’s borders.”
Pollard said that as the Cyclones continue to compete nationally and improve
their athletics profile, the new mark will gain traction as Iowa State’s sports
identity.
The new mark will be implemented on uniforms, facilities (such as mid-field and
mid-court) and printed materials (such as departmental letterhead). It will also be
introduced as the identifying mark for the department’s web site, cyclones.com.