Powerful. Determined. Fast. Resurgent. These are the characteristics that personify DePaul University’s new Blue Demon, a 21^st century incarnation that will lead DePaul’s 15 intercollegiate sports into the next millennium.

     The spotlight will shine for the first time on the new logo when it is unveiled Oct. 14 at a tip-off luncheon for the men’s and women’s basketball seasons. The new logo heads a family of 17 fresh symbols that visually captures the essence of DePaul’s athletic program and represents the attitude of DePaul’s 200 student athletes as they return to a winning tradition.

     The Rev. John P. Minogue, C.M., DePaul’s president, sparked the change last year after finding that interest in the former Blue Demon logo had waned. "I spend a lot of time talking with students and I found that while there was some loyalty to Billy Blue Demon, there was no energy around it."

Vice President for Student Affairs James R. Doyle led the yearlong process to update the logo. "We’ve moved from what was a cuddly, passive look to a much more aggressive, forward-looking logo that has some strength to it," he said. The reaction was very positive from people behind the scenes who got an early glimpse, he added.

The process began when DePaul hired SME Power Branding, a New York firm that specializes in creating graphic identities for professional and collegiate clients. Several focus groups made up of students, alumni, faculty, staff, season ticket holders, Athletic Board members, donors and corporate sponsors pared down the possibilities by commenting on 80 initial concepts.

The group used words such as "revitalized," "forward-moving," "fast," "powerful" and "determined" to direct the design team’s task of depicting the way people think about today’s Blue Demons. The university held fast to its traditional colors, royal blue and scarlet, and added black as an accent.

Minogue said he sees a growing excitement on campus for the new era in DePaul Athletics. The women’s softball team reaching the World Series, Coach Pat Kennedy’s success in revitalizing the men’s basketball program and a new athletic center set to open next spring all are evidence that DePaul has turned a corner. Minogue said the excitement extends internationally to such places as Brazil, where he heard people talking about the DePaul-Northwestern game in last year’s NIT, and Botswana, where he met a young man proudly wearing a DePaul sweatshirt given to him by his brother, a DePaul student.

In addition to the new logos, the university has launched a new campaign for athletics around the theme, "Chicago’s Home Team."

"DePaul is Chicago’s college basketball team," Kennedy said. "I think even our competitors would not disagree. It’s a known fact locally, and it’s a known fact nationally."

Athletic Director William Bradshaw added, "The timing of the new logo and the turning of the page on a new decade, a new century and another hundred years for DePaul couldn’t be better. The direction our teams are headed and the great success our coaches are having in recruiting Chicago and Illinois student athletes has created an excitement on campus that we haven’t seen in many years."

The launch of the new logo will take place over four days, beginning with the tip-off lunch Thursday, followed by the main event, "Midnight Madness," on Friday, when the men’s and women’s teams scrimmage for the first time before an audience of 5,000 students and parents. At that event, which coincides with the beginning of Family Weekend, the new Blue Demon mascot will make his first appearance. The weekend continues with many activities for visiting families.

     When the season officially begins in November, the teams will sport new uniforms and the men’s team will play on a newly designed floor at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

The new primary mark consists of a shield reminiscent of a collegiate crest or coat of arms, with the prominent profile of a sharp-featured Demon character in fast motion, seemingly frozen for a brief moment in time before it darts off the shield. The words "DePaul" and "Blue Demons" in a custom font created especially for the new logo round out the elements of the primary mark.

Secondary marks, which are abbreviated versions of the main logo and offer versatility for team use and merchandising, include:

• The letter "D" intertwined with the Demon profile
• A full-faced view of the Demon’s head encapsulated in a sleek shield and
• A Demon in full body form lunging forward, epitomizing the new spirit of DePaul Athletics.

Three other sets of marks complete the series:

• Word marks spell out DePaul Blue Demons in the custom font, but emphasize DePaul in one version and Blue Demons in the other.

• "Peelables" take a single element from the primary mark and transform them into a dramatic stand-alone, such as a profile of the Demon, the custom DePaul "D," and a mysterious front view of the Demon.

• A youth mark that features a smiling baby Blue Demon flexing his mini-muscles, is designed to attract children to DePaul sports.

When each team begins its season this year, yet another set of new logos will be unveiled. As a bonus, each sport has been given its very own symbol that relates to the family of primary and secondary marks, providing a full palate of designs from which to choose.

     For more information on the new logo, or to see the new designs, visit http://newsroom.depaul.edu/Html/PressKitLogo/outerframe.html .