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Rebranding Ryerson

Although it won’t be unveiled until this summer, Ryerson Athletics is undergoing a complete rebranding that includes new logos, new jerseys and maybe even a new Eggy. Sports editor Sean Tepper reports

The current Rams logo has been part of the school’s loser mentality and sole identity of Ryerson since creation in 1965.

But all of that is about to change.

In conjunction with the grand opening of Maple Leaf Gardens (MLG), Ryerson Athletics will unveil a new Rams logo sometime this summer in hopes to do away with the school’s losing culture and reinvigorate their dormant fan base.

“I think it’s time [for a new logo],” said Stephanie White, manager of Marketing and Special Projects for Ryerson Athletics. “We had an old dated athletic brand that wasn’t even equal to the brand of the university anymore.”

White believes the recent success of the varsity teams coupled with their new athletics facility warrants a new identity for the Rams brand.

“We really felt that we needed a new logo to help bring about the spirit of where we are bringing this program,” White said. “It’s the voice and the feeling that people get when they think of your company and we really need to update that for our internal stakeholder, our athletes or students, to show them that we are serious about athletics.”

White added that, although it is going through a complete overhaul, the rebranding did not come at any additional cost.

“If we had gone with an outside firm, it probably would have cost us anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 to do it … we chose to work with University Advancement at no cost.”

While it won’t be officially unveiled until the summer, the new logo is something that director of athletics Ivan Joseph hopes will get Ryerson Athletics out of the gutter and into the mainstream.

“We want the new look of the Ram logo to pay homage to the past, but to clearly identify that this is the new look of our department,” Joseph said. “He’s a more assertive Ram and I think that’s who we are. I asked for it to be a charging Ram and he looks like he’s ready to do battle and protect his territory.”

Although it keeps some of its predecessor features, the new logo and its accompanying font gives the Ram an angrier and more aggressive edge that Joseph hopes will help solidify the school’s new identity.

“I think the Ram, although classic and stylized before that, missed that sort of personality, and I think that’s who we are. People don’t walk all over us anymore,” he said. “When people play us they know that we mean business and I think that this new Ram conveys that message.”

In addition to a new logo, Joseph said that every varsity team will be receiving new home and away jerseys for the upcoming 2011-2012 season, if funding permits. New Ryerson Rams apparel will also be made available for purchase at the bookstore and at MLG. Even Eggy may be getting a makeover.

“I want [students] to be able to identify with who our logo is and who our mascot is and [know] that they are Rams too,” Joseph said. “I don’t think that just our athletes are Rams but that all 26,000 of us are Rams.”

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