When I was a kid, my favorite baseball team was the St. Louis Cardinals, a decision I made using sound, irrefutable seven-year-old logic—my dad liked them, and their mascot was a bird. I liked birds, so therefore I liked the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cardinals were also the first live game I saw that didn’t begin with “little league,” so that put them pretty high on my list. I remember walking into Busch Stadium, gazing in awe at the sea of red-and-yellow-clad fans cheering wildly for a group of miniscule figures down below. I’d never been in a stadium before that day, and it felt electric. Thousands of people had rallied around one team, one image and traveled from all around the country to share in the same experience. They were strangers to each other, united only by their love of a sport and the image of a cardinal.
Now, almost 14 years later, I see a lot less of the Cardinals and a lot more cardinal and cream, not to mention Union’s ever-present bulldog. Everyone here knows that face: the toothy, scowling bulldog we see on everything from t-shirts to the gym floor. It’s not only a logo, but a statement, especially when it comes to the athletic department. Our bulldog is our brand, a familiar image we’ve come to expect; however, it didn’t always look the way it does now.
From 2007 to 2014, Union did have a standard bulldog, but it looked starkly different from the one we have today. Many affectionately referred to the logo, a geometric design with red eyes, as the “Digidog.” Despite its endearing name, the image was not widely used.
“The Digidog was the first time we had a standard bulldog,” said men’s basketball head coach David Niven, who’s been with Union since 1997. “But I was never a big fan of it, and I’m not sure many folks were.”
President Dub Oliver felt similarly. After arriving in 2015, he decided the Digidog needed a makeover, so a committee of staff members, coaches and student athletes got to work on developing a new logo. To get a better sense of the process, I spoke with assistant vice president for university communications Scott Heit, who designed our current bulldog logo.
“We wanted to make sure our mascot was unique and didn’t look like someone else’s,” Heit said. “There are 40 different colleges and universities that have a bulldog mascot, so we did a lot of research into what already existed and looked for inspiration wherever we could find it.”
The committee considered modeling a new logo from Union’s bulldog statue but ultimately concluded that a statue-like design lacked the right athletic look. Heit began referencing other sports teams for ideas. In part, he took inspiration from the Memphis Grizzlies logo, implementing a similar design and shadow along the side of our bulldog’s face. This gave the logo an intensity and vibrancy consistent with Union’s athletic programs.
Overall, Union’s athletic department places significant value on its image.
“Especially with Union being a Division II NCAA school, there’s a lot of competition for student athletes’ attention,” Heit said. “When your branding is solid, it helps your school stand out in the crowd and gives students something to remember us by. We’ve worked hard over the past several years to tighten up our branding and be more consistent in our visual identity.”
Since the development of the current logo, Heit monitors the use of athletic branding to ensure that the university maintains a consistent image. There are several usage standards, including required clear space around logos, specific colors and fonts and the mandatory updating of documents bearing old logos. Rules like these help preserve the Bulldog brand and emphasize Union’s visual identity.
Speaking with Heit and Niven got me thinking about the importance of visual identity, especially in an athletic setting. Having a mascot with which to identify gives us a sense of belonging and unity, a way to connect with each other. For example, I don’t play sports for my school, but I can still say “I’m a bulldog.” Union may not have packed stadiums like the Cardinals, but we do have that same rallying point and a community filled with generations of Bulldogs.
“I think our image and branding makes a big difference,” said Niven. “It’s improved more than I can adequately communicate since I got here, and it provides a level of class that really sets us apart. I like to think of bulldogs as relentless and tenacious, and I believe our logo communicates that.”
