New Golden Eagle Comes To Roost At Southern Miss

A new golden eagle in a new color has landed in the athletic roost at the University of Southern Mississippi and will soon be emblazoned on items from uniforms to programs to merchandise. The new athletic mark and new gold color, unveiled Wednesday by Southern Miss athletic officials and President Shelby F. Thames during a news conference, is an eagle head with a sleek, more modern, fierce look. It will be used as the primary mark for the USM athletic teams and will debut on uniforms beginning with the 2003 football season.

The new golden eagle, which will be used on all athletic uniforms, publications, merchandise and marketing materials, will replace other marks previously used. A sleeker, more modernized form of the attack eagle will be unveiled next year.

"We are thrilled with the outcome," said Richard Giannini, Southern Miss athletic director. "This new mark is truly our own and provides us with a distinctive look. Any time you add a new mark to your organization, people get excited about it. A lot of the major colleges and professional teams change their logos from time to time for that reason. Our current athletic marks have been in use for more than 10 years. Apparel manufacturers are excited about adding a new eagle to our merchandise, and I think our fans and supporters will be also."

"We are excited about the new look for Southern Miss athletics, and it will have a very positive effect on our student-athletes and fans," said Jeff Bower, Southern Miss head football coach.

Rodney Richardson, principal owner of RARE Designs in Hattiesburg and a Southern Miss graduate, developed the logo and said the new identity represents the strength, pride and passion of what it means to be a Southern Miss Golden Eagle.

"Our design positioning was to create a classic athletic identity inspired by a strong tradition modernized to reflect the Southern Miss spirit of perseverance and achievement," he said. "Bold. Clean. Timeless."

A second development in the process was the issue of color, said Giannini. For the past couple of years, the athletic teams used a color named "Vegas Gold" on uniforms, but it was a hard color to duplicate in apparel. "We?ve been able to change to a different gold that we can use university-wide," Giannini said.

"I think you?ll end up seeing a whole lot more people wearing gold," Bower agreed, saying, "The new golden eagle will be a powerful mark, and the consistency of color will add a lot of gold in the stadium at future games."

"After years of having two gold colors that were acceptable for university merchandise, printing, signage and athletic uniforms, we are pleased to be transitioning into one gold color for both the university and athletics," said Lisa Mader, director of marketing and public relations.

"What we?ve got now is a more distinctive and consistent look for our athletic teams," said Giannini. "That?s one of the things we wanted to do in our branding, to be more consistent with what the university is doing in the ongoing branding for the university."

"We?ve had so many different variations of marks in the past, and that?s made it hard to have a solid identity," said Gene Fitts, university collegiate licensing specialist. "The new mark is a very progressive look. I?m excited."

Fitts said he believes interest in the new look will spill over to consumers who will want to buy items with the new appearance. "In return, that will have a big impact on the university from royalties, which ultimately go back to the athletic program," said Fitts, predicting products carrying the new look will be available by early summer.

The Design Process: Much more than merchandising

Creating the new eagle identity was an intense process that RARE Design and the Southern Miss Athletics Department conducted in several stages for nearly a year. The process included a great deal of research, the use of focus groups, defining and refining the look, and finally, completing the look with accompanying typefaces and supporting marks, said Richardson.

The process began with extensive research, where RARE looked at the history of the Athletics Department and university. Next, they looked at color stories, graphic directions and the extension of possible logos into supporting graphics. Those ideas were then tested in focus groups. Findings from the focus groups led to changes in images and direction.

One comment that stood out among others from the focus groups came from Coach Jeff Bower, who said, "Character; heart; courage?define what Southern Miss football is all about."

"We knew we had to capture those words in our brand," said Richardson. "Athletic identities mean so much more to so many more people. You?ve got the passion of the students, fans and alumni, the representation of the history of the university, the vision of the Athletic Department and, not least, the authenticity of the athletes and game to represent," he added.

Although the new graphics and color play a huge role in licensing and marketing

university athletics, Richardson said he believes they are relevant in representing athletic ideals. "Too often, team identity design focuses on the marketing aspect of the game rather than the team, athletes and sports themselves," he said. "People don?t rally behind a logo. They rally behind the ideas that logo should represent in a clear, concise way. An identity is not about creating a graphic; it?s understanding the story that makes Southern Miss athletics unique."

"The work Rodney and his team at RARE have done with the Southern Miss athletic brand works hand-in-hand with what we are doing to establish a brand for the entire university," said Danny Mitchell, president and CEO of GodwinGroup, the oldest and largest marketing and public relations firm in the Southeast. GodwinGroup designed the theme for the 2003 athletic season, "Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime," and currently is working with the university to develop a university-wide brand for the institution.

"I believe what we?ve captured in the design represents the strength, pride and passion of what it means to be a Southern Miss Golden Eagle," said Giannini. "The results certainly encapsulate the words used by our focus group members ? courage, strength, pride ? to describe the traits of our athletes."

RARE Design is a creative consortium of marketing, advertising and design expertise. RARE has created campaigns for professional athletic teams, major colleges and corporations, including Nike, Adidas, the Houston Texans and Home Depot.

History

Origin of Colors

Black and gold have been Southern Miss? colors since the beginning of our institution, thanks to Florence Burrow Pope who, along with her husband Moran, was in the school?s first class in 1912.

Soon after the doors of Mississippi Normal College opened, a committee was appointed to make recommendations concerning school colors. Florence was on the committee. ?We were charged with selecting colors which no other college in Mississippi had adopted,? she said. ?Marye Miller suggested that the colors be maroon and gray. I suggested that they be black and gold. The two suggestions were submitted to the student body, and the student voted to have black and gold as the school colors.?

Since that day, mascots, names, customs, and the campus have changed, but black and gold have remained the school?s colors.

Evolution of the Mascot

The earliest nickname for the university?s athletic teams was Tigers, but early teams were also referred to as Normalties. Then, in 1924, our teams? name was changed to Yellow Jackets.

When the college was renamed Mississippi Southern College in 1940, a name change for the athletic teams was fitting. In April 1940, the student body voted to name the teams Confederates. The teams were called the Confederates during fall 1940 and spring 1941. In September 1941, Confederates was dropped, and the teams were named Southerners.

Several years later, in 1953, General Nat (for Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest) was approved as the Southerners? mascot. In 1972, alumni, faculty, students, and staff were asked to submit new names for the athletic teams, and an ad hoc committee appointed by the Alumni Association voted on the submissions. Our present mascot, the Golden Eagles, was chosen as the athletic teams? name.

Golden Eagles was chosen over Raiders, War Lords, Timber Wolves and Southerners.

Rodney Richardson

And

RARE Design

RODNEY RICHARDSON
President / Creative Director

Rodney combines raw design and brand identity talents with strategic development and planning. His efforts have produced success stories for his many clients. His client list is as exciting as it is broad. He has done branding work for some of South Mississippi?s best, including Forrest General Hospital, New South Restaurant Group, Methodist Rehabilitation Center, The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, and The University of Southern Mississippi. On a regional and national level, he has delivered impactful brands for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show, Texas Department of Health's Teen Anti-Smoking Campaign - Worth It?, Home Depot, Adidas, Covenant School for the Arts, and Brinker International's On The Border Mexican Cafes. In addition to that, he still develops and manages brands for many NBA, NFL, and NHL teams, including the Houston Texans and the Memphis Grizzlies.

Rodney brings some of the strongest brand identity talents and design skills of anyone currently in the industry. His award-winning work has been featured in the HOW International Design Annual, the American Advertising Federation?s Addy Awards, the Aster Awards, the Maggies, and the Texas Public Relations Association?s Best of Texas Awards. How did he master his craft? Easy, he cut his teeth on one of the world's biggest, most recognizable brands - Nike.

At Nike, he studied the art of brand management and learned to appreciate the difference between an identity and a logo. Rodney was a senior designer/global design leader for Nike Team Sports? basketball category. He also supervised the brand creation of Nike's Global Basketball presence. Here he oversaw the development of some notable identities within the NBA, such as Toronto, Los Angeles, Portland, Dallas and Miami, to name a few.

Rodney has a rare balance of creative inspiration and brand management abilities. This is what makes his work the success that it is today.

RARE Design

Launched by Richardson in 1999 after a three-year stint with Nike, RARE has been crafted to provide a creative consortium where the most outstanding design talent can develop high-impact products and brands for fun and profit. To date, RARE has created compelling campaigns for professional teams from virtually every league, including the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL, as well as major colleges, corporations ? including Nike, Fannie Mae, and Forrest General Hospital ? and businesses and organizations.

RARE is currently working on the identities of two NBA teams, and has gone international! They have been brought on by the Greek Basketball Coaches' Association to create an identity for their organization, as well as that of a professional Greek basketball team from Maroussi. They are also working on 10 different city league/event logos for Nike, including its major street hoops campaign "Battlegrounds." The marks represent tournaments and leagues in New York, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, and other major cities around the country. RARE is also working on a book representing the Nike "Battlegrounds" campaign to the world. The book will be distributed in the United States, Europe (UK and France) and Japan. RARE is also developing a new "Advances in Sports Medicine" display for Methodist Rehabilitation Center to be featured in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

The services provided by RARE are creative direction, graphic design, copy writing, art direction, illustration, direction, production, account management, research, marketing and public relations, design consulting, and product design.

RARE is located in Hattiesburg, Miss. The firm?s goal is to push beyond boundaries and to impact markets by partnering with the world?s best companies and organizations. For additional information on RARE or the services they offer, call (601)-544-7273 or e-mail rare@raredesign.com.