We haven’t fully updated WashU’s visual identity in decades, so we were past due for a refresh. We want everyone to know about WashU and what we stand for – excellence in research, teaching and patient care, with a distinctively collaborative community.
To those who know us, we’ve been “WashU” for a long time. Building awareness around a name that’s already familiar to many, inside the university community and beyond, will help us raise awareness and distinguish WashU among our peers. We dream of a day when no one asks, “WashU? Is that in Seattle??” This will be an important step toward making sure the world knows who we are (and, yes, where we are).
There are many “Washingtons,” but there is only one “WashU.”
It is more than a logo! This fall, in addition to updated logos, fonts and colors we’re making additional exciting updates, including a new washu.edu website; an exciting storytelling campaign, “This is What WashU Can Do,” that brings to life the impact of the important work that happens here; new merchandise to show your WashU pride; many updates to campus signage and materials; and much more.
There are many things that will remain the same, at least for awhile longer. WashU is a complex organization, and turning over our entire campus will take time. We’ll be living in a “mixed-brand” environment for the near future – which means you’ll see the “new” and “old” visual identity to varying degrees – and phasing in the new visual identity in a fiscally responsible way over the course of the next two to three years.
No, we’re still Washington University in St. Louis. The full name of the university is not changing and will still appear in a number of places – on diplomas, in the footers of university websites, on business cards and stationery, in scholarly publications and proposals, in permanent campus signage (such as the large limestone signs on the exterior corners of the Danforth Campus), and in the formal university seal, to name a few. In most uses, however, with the updated visual identity, we’re leaning into “WashU,” which is what most of our audiences call us, and a distinguishing, identifying part of our identity.
You’re right, an update like this can be very expensive. However, we’re taking intentional steps to keep costs at a minimum, by utilizing existing budgets and timelines for updating materials, completing as much work internally as possible, and allowing some legacy logos and university marks to remain permanently. For example, we do not plan to chisel anything off of buildings or concrete walkways. This includes the large, round concrete “Washington University in St. Louis” signs at the corners of the Danforth Campus on Forest Park Parkway and the celebrated Brookings Seal at the entrance to Brookings Hall.
We anticipate it will take 2-3 years before most of the former logos and other materials are fully updated, in both physical and digital spaces.
Good question! Website URLs are all switching from wustl.edu to washu.edu now. Email addresses are more complex and will take time. We anticipate updating university email addresses to washu.edu over the course of the next few years.
In all university materials, we will be “WashU.” University departments will be phasing out all other nicknames over the course of the full update. It’ll take time, but we dream of a world where the only short version of our name that we all use is “WashU.” If we all are aligned in our vocabulary, it’ll go a long way toward reinforcing and building a stronger WashU identity. Please join us!
All of our campus bookstores – the official WashU Campus Store in Mallinckrodt Center and the Bear Necessities shop on the Danforth Campus, and the WashU Medicine Campus Store – are freshly stocked with new WashU merchandise. We’re starting off with the basics and will add to the inventory throughout the academic year.
Yes! Changes are also coming to the Medical Campus. The website is changing to medicine.washu.edu, where you will see the new WashU Medicine logo; new WashU merchandise is available in the WashU Medicine Campus Store; and of course you’ve already seen the huge “WashU Medicine” sign on the new Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building.
The School of Medicine will have a more thorough update soon, but is operating on a slightly different timeline due to its clinical affiliation with BJC HealthCare. Expect more exciting changes to be shared soon.
You’re welcome to contact University Marketing & Communications at marcomm@wustl.edu with any questions, suggestions or feedback. Tell us what you think. We’d love to hear from you!