Designed to Do More.

A New Mark to Reinforce UW-Stout's Polytechnic Advantage
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Reflecting Our Legacy of Innovation

Innovation is fundamental to UW-Stout's identity as Wisconsin's Polytechnic University. For more than 130 years, it's driven our pursuit of the next answer, the next avenue, the next opportunity to power business, industry and our society. It's reflected in the evolution of our career-focused applied learning and research, the flexibility of our lab and studio facilities, the breadth of our cooperative education and internship placement opportunities, the efficiency of our digital infrastructure, and the ethics of our sustainability efforts. And with a 99.4% employment rate, it's proven in the success of our graduates. (UW-Stout ranked #1 among all UW System universities in the most recent NACM alumni survey!)

Innovation is at the core of who we are, what we do. The drive to do is in our DNA

As UW-Stout's forward-looking curriculum, hands-on experiences, and facilities continue to evolve, so must our logo to reflect these innovations. Over the decades, we've embraced various iterations of our "S," but no previous logo has so intentionally encapsulated our mission. The new "S" says it all—applied learning and research, career-focused experiences, and collaboration with business and industry.

It's everything that defines our innovative polytechnic advantage.

Our Polytechnic Advantage

What is a Polytechnic? Learn about this remarkable designation and why it's so important to our students.
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Deconstructing the New Mark

New "S" logo set on a grid field.

The Bands

The bands reflect the inseparable tenets of applied learning, career focus, and collaboration that guide our institution and define our identity as Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University.

The Colors

The colors honor the past, present and future of our university—from the navy blue of UW-Stout’s distinguished history to the bright path of tomorrow’s graduates.

The Movement

The motion reinforces the onward, upward collective impact of our students, our faculty and staff, and our community of alumni and industry partners.

As an alumni board, we love how the logo embraces both our future and pays homage to our roots.
Nikki Westvig Stephany (’04) President, UW-Stout Alumni Board

How Our Newest Logo Was Developed

In addition to engineering and other STEM fields, UW-Stout is known for one of the strongest and most prestigious public art and design programs in the Midwest. Throughout our history, UW-Stout has engaged School of Art and Design (SOAD) students and faculty to evolve elements of our brand and identity, like the "Blaze" athletics logo, and to distinguish our campus and community with murals and other visual works.  

For this university-wide rebrand, however, we engaged Simpson Scarborough, an industry expert experienced with the importance and uniqueness of polytechnic institutions. In addition to their work for Cal-Poly, Simpson Scarborough has a deep portfolio of institutional clients, including Butler, Creighton, Fordham, Northwestern, and others.

Throughout the identity development process, Stout used Simpson to engage our campus and other constituencies. Faculty, staff, and students were invited to provide input on logo concepts, and the themes and agreements, as well as concerns, voiced by those groups, had a significant influence over the final result. In addition to field testing and surveys, Simpson Scarborough also met with targeted focus groups of students, faculty, and staff, and Stout's Identity Standards Committee and designated SOAD faculty members were relied upon for their specific expertise throughout the development process. Stout made a number of presentations to shared governance and alumni groups at various stages of the process.

The logo was first previewed during UW-Stout's investiture celebration week—on flags displayed along the streets of Menomonie and during the investiture celebration in animations created by Studio MLM, a local brand and identity studio owned by Chief Creative Officer Micah Maraia ('03) and almost entirely staffed by Stout alumni, including Creative Director Tyler Michaletz ('16).

A Visual History of UW-Stout's Academic Mark

A timeline of UW-Stout's logos throughout its history.