The Big Ten Conference recently revealed a new logo to be used for all sports beginning with the 2011-12 academic year. It was was developed by Michael Bierut and Michael Gericke of the international design firm Pentagram.
“Its contemporary collegiate lettering includes an embedded numeral ’10′ in the word ‘BIG,’ which allows fans to see ‘BIG’ and ’10′ in a single word,” said Michael Gericke in a statement. “Memorable and distinctive, the new logo evolved from the previous logo’s use of negative space and is built on the conference’s iconic name, without reference to the number of member institutions.”
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney initially said that “the new Big Ten logo provides a contemporary identifying mark unifying 12 outstanding institutions, it conveys some elements from the past while simultaneously introducing new features. We think the new logo is fun and has something for everyone.”
Something for everyone was the intention, except no one seems to like it. In fact, the new logo design is getting a design beat-down, with signs using the new logo being torn down in sports arenas. "You never, rarely, get 90% approval rating," Delany said last week. "But to get a 90% nonapproval rating was…really surprising." He said the league will revisit the issue this month.
Will the new Big Ten logo be scrapped? Should it be?