UH regents form
subcommittee to seek
solution to logo dilemmaThe university seeks to move
on while still fulfilling its contract
The Board of Regents has formed a subcommittee to figure out the University of Hawaii's next move in its derailed and heavily criticized effort to create a school logo.
The regents held a closed-door executive session yesterday morning to discuss the school's contract with the Maryland firm that came up with two proposed logos, which were later rejected by the UH after community uproar.
After the regents' meeting yesterday, Paul Costello, UH vice president for external affairs community relations, said the university is not looking to get out of the contract, but rather, "how do we move forward, and how do we do so in a way that involves fulfilling the contract."
Costello said the subcommittee will look at all options, including using a logo to be designed by another firm and how Robert Rytter & Associates would fit into that. Rytter has been paid $72,000 of its $82,000 contract, Costello said.
"We've paid them a significant chunk of money," he said. "Rytter's determined to finish the job," and the university is committed to having the firm do that.
Costello said more public input on a new logo is needed before a decision is made.
The UH unveiled the Baltimore firm's two designs, "Wave," and "Spectrum," last month. After sharp criticism of the $82,000 price tag, the inappropriateness of the designs and the selection of an out-of-state designer, UH President Evan Dobelle announced April 30 that he was withdrawing the proposals. Dobelle said the school would continue to work with Rytter & Associates to come up with a solution.
After Dobelle's announcement, three companies offered to design a school logo for free. UH officials then consulted the American Institute of Graphic Arts in Honolulu for advice.
Stacey Leong Mills, president of the graphic artist association's Honolulu chapter, who testified at yesterday's meeting, said afterward that the question was essentially, "Should we dump (the Maryland firm)?
"We can't tell them what to do. We're not paid to think for them."
The organization recommended that ethically it was not right to pay a designer and then get free designs from another, Leong said.
Testifying before the board in an open meeting later in the day, Momi Cazimero, graphic designer and UH alumna, said, "If the logo was right, it would capture the essence of the community."
She added that the Rytter designs failed to do so.
Regent Kitty Lagareta said, "No matter what we do, there's going to be a logo, and some people are going to be upset." She asked Cazimero what she would suggest. Cazimero suggested a simplified version of the UH official seal.
Costello explained the nine-month process to select a logo began with public meetings at all 10 campuses, conducted by a Kailua company for $54,000.
Costello said 21 requests for proposals were sent out, and 14 responses (seven from Hawaii) were received. However, Rytter was not solicited, but learned of the search through the Web, he said. Bids ranged from $65,400 to $463,000.
Dobelle said he nixed the proposed UH logos "because if the public doesn't feel it represents them, well, then you don't impose it.
"These two just weren't going to work for the public, and they were not acceptable and we start over again."
He emphasized the need for a logo to aid in marketing the school to Asia and the Pacific.
But Rep. K. Mark Takai, House Higher Education Committee chairman, disagreed. He questioned whether the university can afford a $1.5 million branding campaign at a time when faculty and classes are being cut while enrollment has grown.
"Why develop a marketing and branding campaign to recruit students when you don't have the infrastructure to support it?" he asked.
University of Hawaii
