New Big Ten Logo, Division Names

Big news today as the Big Ten has announced the names of it's two divisions, and unveiled it's new logo.

The logo:

The logo with division names "Legends" and "Leaders".

All of the logos and their variations live here.

Editorial:
I personally don't care for the logo or the division names. I think the logo is a cool idea, but missed the mark design-wise. It's just a little too boring for my taste. It's too simple. Jim Delany's son probably did this with his pirated copy of Photoshop in about 10 minutes.

And as far as the division names are concerned. Yikes.

Legends and Leaders? Really?

And surely Michigan is in the "Leaders" division, right? I mean it's a word prominently used in our fight song.

Wait. We're not? We're in the "Legends" division?

Why, oh why did the names of these division have to suck so bad? I knew they would. Any time a committee has to try and do something cool and creative, this is what you get. Safe and boring. What's wrong with "East" and "West"? Or "North" and "South"? I personally was a fan of the "Bo" and "Woody" divisions.

Clearly, the conference played the safe card here, and came up with a logo and division names that were safe enough not to offend anyone, and boring enough for people not to care. I'm with Brian of mgoblog, I'm not a fan of even using these names. So from here on out, we're going with the "Bo" division and the "Woody" division.

Also, 18 trophy names have been announced for conference awards. That list lives here.

Big Ten logo announcement video:



Big Ten press release:

Park Ridge, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference today made several announcements that complete a series of decisions prompted by the upcoming addition of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln as the conference’s 12th member school. The conference revealed a new logo to be used for all sports beginning with the 2011-12 academic year and also unveiled names for its two football divisions and a list of names for 18 trophies to honor coaches, teams and student-athletes starting with the 2011 football season.

“When we announced football division alignments in September, other associated decisions had not yet been made. We wanted to take some time to listen, carefully consider, and make choices that would best honor our history and traditions, reflect our core values and characteristics, and tell our story,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. “We involved many thoughtful, dedicated professionals and we listened to many ideas from our member schools, alumni and fans.”

The new Big Ten logo was developed by Michael Bierut and Michael Gericke of the international design firm Pentagram.

“The new Big Ten logo was developed to symbolize the conference’s future, as well as its rich heritage, strong tradition of competition, academic leadership, and passionate alumni,” said Gericke. “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. 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.”

The new logo also provides the flexibility of multiple versions which can be used horizontally, vertically and within new media.

“The new Big Ten logo provides a contemporary identifying mark unifying 12 outstanding institutions,” said Delany. “It conveys some elements from the past while simultaneously introducing new features. We think the new logo is fun and has something for everyone.”

The conference also announced today that its football divisions, starting with the 2011 season, will be “Legends” and “Leaders.” A breakdown of the divisions is listed below:

LEGENDS: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern

LEADERS: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

“‘Legends’ is a nod to our history and to the people associated with our schools who are widely recognized as legends - student-athletes, coaches, alumni and faculty. ‘Leaders’ looks to the future as we remain committed to fostering leaders, the student-athletes who are encouraged to lead in their own way for the rest of their lives, in their families, in their communities and in their chosen professions,” said Delany. “We’re proud of our many legends and even prouder of our member institutions that develop future leaders every day.”

Finally, the Big Ten announced the creation of 18 trophies to honor just a small sampling of the countless student-athletes and coaches who have contributed to the conference’s rich and storied history. Starting with the 2011 season, the Big Ten will honor its top football student-athletes with these newly named trophies.

“These trophies will honor our legends and leaders for generations to come,” said Delany. “The names on these trophies are fitting tributes to the hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and coaches whose hard work and dedication have contributed to the legacy of the Big Ten Conference over the past 115 years.”