Year
2022
Client
Category
Product Duration
1 Month
Scope
Ottawa University Arizona is a private Christian college founded in 2017 in Surprise, AZ, that ran almost entirely on student-athlete enrollment (roughly 700 of 900 students). The athletics program operated with three competing logos, inconsistent typography, and a mascot disconnected from its visual system. The school needed an athletics brand that could compete for recruits and build tradition fast.
Solutions
The rebrand applied identity coherence theory (Whetten & Mackey, 2002): organizations with unified identity signals build external recognition faster than those with fragmented ones. Three logos consolidated into one Mexican gray wolf mark matching the existing mascot. A "Mind, Body, Spirit" tagline aligned the academic, athletic, and Christian identities while linking directly to the OUAZ Spirit nickname.
Results
A complete athletics brand system was developed: logo, typography, color palette, pattern system, social media templates, gameday motion graphics, and a full experiential package across arena, media day, and broadcast environments.
One Mexican gray wolf mark replaced three competing logos. The "Mind, Body, Spirit" tagline tied academic, athletic, and Christian identities to the OUAZ Spirit nickname. Arizona sunset primaries with a turquoise accent. The pattern system referenced the Sonoran landscape.
A complete social media package gave the program tournament-grade content infrastructure: signing templates, results graphics, awards spotlights, ranking announcements, and gameday animations. A library of Instagram Reels stickers extended the brand into student-driven social distribution.
The experiential package translated the brand into the spaces recruits and families actually visit. Basketball arena design integrated the new mark across court, scoreboard, and benches. A media day studio backdrop with custom lighting gave the program broadcast-ready consistency. Gameday motion graphics extended the brand to the in-arena video board.
