The New Gibbons "Spirit Logo"

I posted a sneak peek of the new logo to my Twitter account last week, and found that in just 1 hour, over 60 people had visited the bit.ly link to my homepage. One person a minute!  I certainly don't get that kind of traffic when I normally post links to articles or my blog.  Clearly, students, alumni and parents have some interest in the new "spirit logo."  A parent suggested that I give a little more background about how we arrived at this logo. 

The process was important, as we had been thinking about a consistent logo for Athletics and other co-curricular activities ever since the "CG" logo was adopted four years ago. We decided to enlist the help of a professional communications agency, and we were lucky enough to find a designer who knew and loved the school already, as a graduate of Cardinal Gibbons. Many thanks to Greg Galloway '95 and the team at Signal who helped us through the process, designed the logo, and put together a style sheet to help us stay true to the original design.

A rumor had been circulating around campus that the school was going to abandon the "Crusaders" mascot, and some alumni mentioned the rumor to me at Homecoming. Of course, we were not originally known as the "Crusaders" - that mascot was adopted when the students at Nazareth Orphanage officially joined Cathedral Latin High School during the 1949-1950 school year (read this portion of the school's history on our centennial website), but there was never a part of the process where changing or eliminating the mascot was discussed.  As you can see from the logo at the top of the page, it remains our school mascot and a part of the school's spirit logo.

We consulted with coaches, teachers, parents, alumni, and most importantly, students on the essential qualities of our school that should be represented in this type of logo, or as the design folks like to call it, a "mark."  Interestingly, while terms like "excellence" and "successful" were important, just as common were words like "welcoming" and "sportsmanship."  It was refreshing to hear that in competition, it was important to our student-athletes and coaches that we focus on being hospitable and welcoming to teams and fans from other schools, and that it should somehow be reflected in the logo.  That discussion ruled out some of the ideas seen in other logos.

There was also a discussion on the name - in other words, what would be the focus of the logo when people referred to our school. We really had four options: 1) Cardinal Gibbons, 2) Gibbons, 3) CGHS and 4) Crusaders. Everyone agreed that we were known on campus, by alumni and in the public arena as "Gibbons," and that the logo should reflect that common usage. So, the "G," referring to "Gibbons" quickly became the focus of the logo.

In searching logos and crusader mascots, the most creative one was from another Catholic preparatory school: Mercy High School, in Burlingame, CA. Although we had a lot of interesting suggestions during brainstorming sessions, supporters of the rabbit crusader were never able to sway the majority.  For those of you in favor of a more quirky logo, you missed your chance to get on the rabbit bandwagon.  Also, for the many fans of the Green Army's famous "Banana Cheer," the "Crusading Bananas" did not make it very far in the process.

It was at this point that we were presented with several different versions, and the group decided to move forward with a design that incorporated a shield and flag (the original was different than the final version).  People liked the shield idea, for its connection to the Crusaders mascot and its timelessness, and the flag for the "movement" it added to the logo and the fact that it was distinctive.  Groups also liked that the cross in the flag reflected the "CG" logo we've been using, and will continue to use.

So far, everything had been pretty smooth, however, when it came to the "G," that's where the group had difficulty making a decision.  We went through several versions of the "G," everything from a very traditional "Block G" (which we use for our Athletic Varsity Letters) to some diverse versions that were crafted by Greg and the team at Signal.  The challenge was to come up with something distinctive, however not so different that it was either difficult to read or would quickly become dated.  After several variations on the "G" we finally agreed on the letter you see in the middle of the shield, which we hoped would be clear, strong and distinctive enough to remain the letter we will continue to use in applications of the spirit logo.  Additionally, it gives us the font that we use for "GIBBONS" in the logo.

The most exciting part of the new logo is that it will be worn by our community of faculty, parents, and friends of the school, and of course alumni and students (both current and future).  We're proud of our school: our long and storied history in Raleigh, our tradition of success in athletics and fine arts, and the tremendous spirit of our school community. There was a lot of thought and work put into the development of a logo that would represent all that we love about our school, and I look forward to seeing the "spirit logo" around campus this fall.