Finalists chosen
to design UH logo
A University of Hawaii committee has selected three design firms from Hawaii as finalists to create a new logo.
The firms -- Graphic House, Clarence Lee Design & Associates, and Sae design -- will be paid $5,000 each to come up with up to two designs each that reflect the university.
UH Logo Search
>> Nov. 22, 2002: UH announces plans to revamp its marketing, advertising and graphic identity to establish a visual identity for the university. Robert Rytter & Associates of Maryland is selected to create a new systemwide logo.
>> April 23, 2003: UH unveils "Wave" and "Spectrum" design concepts for new logo.
>> April 30, 2003: UH President Evan Dobelle rejects the "Wave" and "Spectrum" after mostly negative public reaction.
>> May 19, 2003: The Board of Regents selects a subcommittee to work with local designers and UH administration to come up with a new process to select a UH logo.
>> March 19, 2004: Board of Regents approves the process.
>> April 2, 2004: A notice is published soliciting firms to design a new UH logo.
>> May 27, 2004: Finalists are selected to design the new logo.
>> July 2004: Finalists will submit up to two designs for the logo. Following public comment, the selection committee will choose a firm to complete the logo design or the committee can reject all the proposed designs.
>> September 2004: Final logo design to be presented to the Board of Regents for approval.
Graphic House is owned by former UH regent Momi Cazimero; Lee is well known for designing the U.S. Postal Service's Lunar New Year stamps series; and Saedene Yee-Oda of Sae design was selected as "advertising woman of the year" last month by the Hawaii Advertising Federation.
As leaders in the design community and American Institute of Graphic Design members, Cazimero and Lee helped a Board of Regents subcommittee come up with the process to select a new logo.
The finalists were selected by a 15-member committee of university and community leaders with arts and marketing backgrounds. They looked at, among other things, the bidders' knowledge of Hawaii and the UH system, overall experience and work samples.
UH spokeswoman Carolyn Tanaka said the finalists were picked from 42 bidders. Nine of the bidders were from the mainland, one was from outside the United States and the rest were from Hawaii.
The finalists' designs will be posted on a Web site for public comment. The evaluation committee will then select the firm, which will be paid an additional $5,000 to complete the logo design. The committee also has the right to reject all designs submitted for consideration.
"I was impressed by the quality of the people and the number of good graphic designers who did submit," said selection committee Chairman Francis Oda, of architecture firm Group 70 International.
Oda said that until yesterday he did not know which firms were chosen as finalists because each committee member voted separately and the results were tallied by the UH procurement office.
The logos submitted will be numbered, rather than identified with the firm that designed them, so that the selection committee will not know who created the logos when voting on the final design, Oda said.
This is the second time the university has solicited firms to design a new logo.
The Maryland firm of Robert Rytter & Associates created two designs last year that were rejected by UH President Evan Dobelle after a public outcry. Rytter was paid $73,637 of an $83,000 contract.
The new logo will not replace the UH athletic department's "H" design, nor will it replace the UH seal, which will still be on diplomas.
UH officials began looking for a new logo after research by the Brand Strategy Group showed that the UH's brand image was fractured with more than 150 logos in use systemwide.
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www.hawaii.edu
