New logo to help solidify VUMC’s visual identity
You may notice something a little different about the front page of this website. Up at the top, near the word Reporter, and here within this story, is the new logo of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The graphic and type treatment replaces the circular 'buzzsaw' icon as well as all other logos, and over time will become the visual standard for use on everything from business cards, letterhead and websites to building signs, billboards and shuttle buses.
The Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt will retain its familiar logo and its usage guidelines are being updated.
The new look closely follows the University's comprehensive visual identity system and is being rolled out Medical Center-wide this summer, with the full transition expected to take place over the next 18 months.
“This is a process, not an event,” said Jill Austin, MBA, assistant vice chancellor for Strategic Marketing at VUMC. “This is an incredibly large, complex and diverse institution, so there will be an adjustment period that we need to work our way through.”
Aiding in that adjustment is a new Medical Center graphics standards website that launched today at http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/logo that outlines usage guidelines and compliance policies for the newly adopted visual identity system.
While the new design will be available online from Vanderbilt Printing for business cards, stationery and other needs beginning July 1, departments are encouraged to replace their current supplies as they become depleted.
According to Austin, some of the first exterior signs that will be changed are those at Vanderbilt Health at One Hundred Oaks.
“We want to do this carefully and cost effectively and start out at places with high visibility,” Austin said.
The new logo marries the understated oak leaf “V” graphic with the words “Vanderbilt University Medical Center.”
Over the past year, Austin and her team conducted focus groups and surveyed nearly 5,000 people nationwide. They found that while respondents did not attach much significance to graphic icons, they did find value in the word Vanderbilt, and most commonly associated the word “university” with the word Vanderbilt.
“This new graphic identity for the Medical Center will strengthen our visual connection with the University and will propel our efforts to increase our national recognition,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs.
According to Austin, adopting the visual identity system of the University is part of VUMC's national reputation strategy.
“It enables us to take advantage of the equity in the name Vanderbilt University as well as to lift all components of the Medical Center together.
“It symbolizes our collaborative spirit that sets us apart from others and makes us unique,” Austin said.
For more information about the new visual identity system, go to http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/logo.