University of Sheffield spent more than £6000 on logo change

The University of Sheffield spent £6,100.72 on its new logo at the end of 2022, according to a Freedom of Information request by The Sheffield Tab.

The design process, which involved a testing and consultation stage involving over 1,500 people was done in-house at no cost.

However, the new logo and crest cost £6,100.72 to trademark.

When the logo was changed staff were told not to replace any items with the old logo until needed.

A statement by the university at the time said: “It’s really important that all elements of our brand meet modern accessibility standards and this was the key driver behind the update.”

The change was unpopular at the time, with a petition that reached over 2,600 signatures.

The petition stated: “We completely acknowledge and understand the need to simplify the shield for scalability in branding and introduce accessible fonts to meet modern accessibility standards, however the new colour scheme (violet/purple) is just a replication of so many other (mainly northern) universities across the country. Examples include Manchester University (purple), Leeds Beckett (purple), Loughborough (purple), Durham (purple), etc. ”

“The Sheffield “blue” means so much to so many (past and present) and the new brand identity instantaneously removes any individual identity or sense of ownership students, staff and alumni have over their much loved institution. ”

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