Cape Breton University Highlander

[Nathan]

So Cape Breton University is just up the highway from my childhood home. The school colours have long been orange and green which were the corporate colours for DEVCO, the Crown corporation that operated the coal mines.

Recently, the university went through a rebranding. First they were the College of Cape Breton (CCB), a satellite campus of St. Francis Xavier University. Once independent, they became the University College of Cape Breton (UCCB). Now they are simply Cape Breton University (CBU). But why should you care? I've mentioned in other threads the high percentage of Highland Scots that populated Cape Breton during the clearances and the living Celtic culture that remains there.

Tapping into that sense of community and pride, they have adopted a kilted Highlander as their brand and mascot. The tagline for their teams is: Strong. Fierce. Proud.

I think the graphic design on the logo is brilliant.

cape-breton-university-athletics-department-04.jpgcape-breton-university-athletics-department-01.jpgCBU Highlander.jpg


I'm not sure what tartan the mascot and gent in the kilt are wearing here, but it works. Anyone know?

cape-breton-university-athletics-department-08.jpg

Here's a write-up by the logo designer.

http://famousfolks.ca/work/cape-bret...ics-department

Slàinte,


Nathan

[Guinness>water]

Oh, Oh, I know, I know! Its the 78th Fraser Highlander tartan.

Figheadair just did a write up on it not too long ago.

Glad to see that the Highlander is the mascot, wish that had been my schools mascot.

[plaid preacher]

Thanks Nathan! I'm a UPEI alum (among other places)... but I'd wear a CBU t-shirt! And maybe like the Celtic fans in Scotland the kilt will catch on as what everyone wears to a football match.

[Nathan]

Thanks Nathan! I'm a UPEI alum (among other places)... but I'd wear a CBU t-shirt! And maybe like the Celtic fans in Scotland the kilt will catch on as what everyone wears to a football match.

Maybe the kilt will catch on for games! Maybe it already has. It's not my alma mater either, but I'm happy to see the local school embracing the local culture!

[WillowEstate]

Nice catch, Nathan, thanks for sharing.

[imrichmond]

The CBU main logo (the fiery head) looks great, but I just can't figure out what that other one--the "fiercely competitive" one--is meant to represent, especially that rather suggestive dangly bit. I'm familiar with CBU, having visited the institution and had various dealings with it when I was a university vice-president in Nova Scotia in the 1990s, and I can't for the life of me grasp the symbolism of that logo. Perhaps someone more in tune with contemporary graphics could point me in the right direction.

[McMurdo]

I am a graphic designer by trade, and think this is a wonderful logo and is quite successful. As for the `dangly bits`they are the highlanders legs.

[Nathan]

The CBU main logo (the fiery head) looks great, but I just can't figure out what that other one--the "fiercely competitive" one--is meant to represent, especially that rather suggestive dangly bit. I'm familiar with CBU, having visited the institution and had various dealings with it when I was a university vice-president in Nova Scotia in the 1990s, and I can't for the life of me grasp the symbolism of that logo. Perhaps someone more in tune with contemporary graphics could point me in the right direction.

It's a bearded, kilted Highlander running towards you fist first. Looks pretty clear to me.

[imrichmond]

It's a bearded, kilted Highlander running towards you fist first. Looks pretty clear to me.

Ah, yes. Now that you've pointed it out, it becomes clear. I must confess I couldn't figure out what those four "exhaust pipes"--the highlander's fingers-- in the upper right were. I guess I was not looking at it with graphically attuned eyes. Thanks for the clarification.

[Blupiper]

So if there was a competition between CBU and Simon Fraser University, the Highlanders would take on the Clan.

JMB