Reds Unveil New Look

(FREDERICTON, NB) With a new competitive season about to unfold, UNB Athletics has a new name and a new look.

The UNB Reds unveiled their new brand today, complete with a new logo, one that will carry UNB Athletics into the future.

“This is an exciting time for us,” said John Richard, UNB’s Director of Athletics. “We put a lot of work into developing this new brand. We already know it resonates with students and we’re hoping the community likes what they see too.”

The most notable change sees the Varsity Reds become, simply, the Reds.

“We had difficulties, at times, with the word Varsity,” said Richard. “Some students saw it as elitist and exclusionary. For them, that was a reason not to attend games, support their peers, and be part of our end of the complete student experience.”

The new logo, which features UNB’s trademark red, white and black, is a circle, which binds UNB Reds from around the globe, and ties the Reds past and future together, with a modern “R.”

During development of the new mark, different versions of the “R” were considered, but focus group work indicated students and student-athletes favoured one with a current look.

The modern “R” does acknowledge the past, with a serif extending from the top left corner of the letter.

The new circle logo isn’t the Reds’ only mark. Secondary logos, including a lone “R” and a “Reds” mark, have also been created.

“This gives our teams some options,” said Nick Zildjan, the Reds' Manager of Marketing and Special Events. “Teams can be creative in the way they represent us on their uniforms and apparel now. And, it’s not just our high-performance teams competing in Atlantic University Sport and U SPORTS. Because the word ‘varsity’ is gone, UNB’s sport club teams can access this branding. In fact, they’ve already begun doing that.”

The new logo has already been applied, at centre ice, in the Aitken Centre, and is prominent in the new high performance training centre in UNB’s new Kinesiology building.

“This change reflects our commitment and passion to athletics here at UNB,” said Richard. “We know this is connecting with students, we hope faculty and staff and the community can identify with it, and that everyone can see themselves as part of the Reds.”