When Huge returned to campus, she made consistent, identifiable athletic branding a priority, which dovetailed with the thoughts of Justin Schoonmaker, creative director of William & Mary’s University Communications unit.

“I think what’s really important is that the William & Mary name is a 325-year-old brand, and it is the strongest name and the strongest identity that the university has,” Schoonmaker said. “To me, that’s the biggest win here. We give the university credit for what athletics is doing, and we lend the athletics program the strength of the university name. It’s a two-way win. The university gets more credit for what athletics accomplishes, and athletics gets to lean on the recognition and strength of the William & Mary brand.”

Schoonmaker, lead designer Melissa Payne, and their team spent hundreds of hours planning, sketching, revising and adapting various logos and marks. They received feedback from coaches, athletics staff, student-athletes, and university administrators over the course of several months before finally settling on the new logos.

For Schoonmaker, it was a passion project. He was valedictorian of the W&M Class of 2009, and cares deeply how his alma mater is represented now and into the future.

“I have a huge stake here, because I’m an alumnus and I work here. I care a lot about what happens with the athletics program and what happens with the university’s brand over the next 10 years,” he said. “I care that our messages get out there clearly. I care about people recognizing the excellence that’s here, and I care that our song gets sung and that we have a say in it, and it’s not just other people dictating what it sounds like.”