New Big Ten Logo Looks Like It Took 25 Seconds to Make

Dec 13, 2010

Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin are a combined 33-3 this season, so it's not like the Big Ten is lacking in the football talent department. But my goodness, who is the conference's graphic designer?

The Big Ten unveiled a new logo on Monday, and it looks, well, it looks like someone was assigned the redesign, completely forgot about it and then scrapped something together on Microsoft Paint a few minutes before it was due.



It is very blue and very plain. It's not as if the old one was all that awesome, but at least it didn't look like a 12-year-old put it together.

Oh wait -- make that two 12-year-olds. They go by the names of Michael Bierut and Michael Gericke, they work for a design firm called Pentagram, and they went to great lengths to try to justify their design.

"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," Gericke said in the conference's release. "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."

Ah, yes. This is, after all, the Big Ten ... which will be home to 12 schools. It only makes sense that its logo doesn't make sense.

(I think we can all agree, though, that the following is the best collection of words ever combined: "which allows fans to see 'BIG' and '10' in a single word." Wow! You just blew my mind, Michael Gericke. Someone get that man a raise!)

"It conveys some elements from the past while simultaneously introducing new features," said Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. "We think the new logo is fun and has something for everyone."

"Like anything new," Daly said, according to USA Today, "it'll take time to get used to."

Or, if it's like that new Gap logo, it will be mocked mercilessly until it's finally reverted back to its original form.

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