The argument in favor of creating one logo is a strong one. Throughout the years and currently, the university has used many different logos, and even today there is no consistency among the differing sports teams. Tom Izzo said it best when asked his opinion: “So we’ve had … this, we’ve had that, we’ve had the ‘S,’ we’ve had the head.” I agree 100 percent. We have had way too many logos.

However, the solution does not address the problem adequately. If we add a new redesigned Spartans logo, it will be just that — an additional logo. It would never fully replace the current logos. The old logos still would likely exist in some shape or form and now there would be an additional one floating around.

But we do need to use fewer logos, and perhaps just one as the official logo.

My simple solution would be an amendment to the proposed plan. In this solution, everywhere you see the new logo, just use the current Spartans helmet logo. This will save the university a multitude of problems. First, it will prevent brand confusion. If the new Spartans helmet logo is implemented, it will take some time for people outside of the MSU network to realize that we have a new logo. When people out of the loop see the new logo they will possibly assume it is for another school. This could last a few months to possibly a few years. It would be better to just use the current Spartans helmet logo as part of the re-branding plan. Outsiders would be able to immediately identify this as MSU.

Secondly, what do we do about the current Spartans helmet logo that is (rightfully so) plastered around campus? What do we do about the Spartans helmet logo etched into the brick of Breslin Center? What do we do about the many Spartans helmet logos adorning the Skandalaris Football Center? It would be infeasible to replace these — especially at a time when the university lacks the funds to support keeping some of its academic programs going.

I’ve done my research. And it seems like this logo redesign is here to give MSU an identity as part of a bigger package of changes. My question is why can’t this be done with the current Spartans helmet logo? Why does it need to be done with something new? The current Spartans helmet can and should be our identity.

I may not have a degree in marketing, but I do possess common sense and uncommon sense. And my common sense tells me that we can accomplish unity by establishing the current Spartans helmet logo as the logo to be used by all of the athletics teams. And my uncommon sense tells me that there probably is a really innovative plan in the works. This re-branding plan likely is good. And to make it even better, replace every usage of the new Spartans helmet logo with the current Spartans helmet logo.

I can’t wait until the entire slew of changes is revealed in April. However, I hope that the plan is revised to exclude the new Spartans helmet logo.

Randel Tomina

finance junior