Archives Digital Exhibits

Early text-based circles

The earliest version of a college seal was this simple text circle, with the current name of the school and city location around the outside, and "Founded 1859" on the inside of the wheel.

The five examples here date from particular periods and show the consistency and ubiquity of the form.

1. From an 1896 diploma, when the school was called Roanoke Female College
2. From a 1913 diploma when the school was called Roanoke Institute
3. From a 1920 catalog, after the name change to Averett College
4. From the cover of 1930s yearbooks
5. From Presidential letterhead of the 1970s

Early anomaly - The Lamps and the Book

A fascinating and attractive anomaly was this early pictographic seal featuring two lamps of knowledge above a book.  On the left is a pin that has been dated to 1908 but which identifies the school as Roanoke Institute (a name we weren't using until 1910).  On the right is an image from the 1920 commencement program, which identifies us with the rarely used descriptive name "Averett College for Young Women."

It was also used in issues of the Chanticleer newspaper from 1922-1926 (not pictured here).

As the image has never been spotted anywhere else, it is unlikely that this was ever considered an official college seal, although its design was clearly modeled on the concept.

The Pendulum Seal

From the 1930s to the early 1960s, college diplomas replaced the word-circle with this design modeled on the pendulum from the college's beloved grandfather clock.  The oval variations were found on a 'view book' of campus photographs (1932) and a graduation invitation (1966).

The usage of this image on official graduation documents implies that it was considered an official college seal.  However, a more image-centric concept was in simultaneous use, leading to a lack of clarity over whether one or both were considered the official seal at the time.  (see next slide)

Mid-Century Image-Dominant Designs

In the middle of the 20th century, two wildly different image-centric designs were used in various places.  It is unclear whether either was even briefly considered the official college seal, though both were used in college publications and materials regularly.

On the left is the 'Lamp and Latin Motto' design which was used on graduation programs from 1950 to 1980, and has been spotted on the cover of yearbooks as early as 1946.  As a design which dates to an era of heavy experimentation with college branding activities nationwide (as college were fighting over an expected post-war enrollment boom), it notably includes our first usage of the college's latin motto "Irreparabile Tempus."

On the right is an anomalous image based on Main Hall.  It has appeared in various places in a very wide date range (on jackets appearing in mid-century yearbook photos, and on a coffee mug that seems to date to the 1990s).  While it has never been used in any of the locations normally associated with the official seal (degrees, commencement programs, letterhead), it was a widely seen design.

The Current Oval Seal

Designed in 1980 for the inauguration of President Howard W. Lee, a former minister, this design stresses the school's Baptist heritage by including a cross alongside a torch (rather than the traditional academic 'lamp of knowledge').  The version on the left was used from 1980-2000.  In 2001, when our name changed from Averett College to Averett University, the design was recreated with the new text.

This design, in one of the two forms, has been in constant use as the official seal for more than 40 years.

1900 Catalog Typography

Early catalogs used a new typeface each year.  In the 1800s, the college name was typically highlighted with an overly ornate typeface.  Beginning with this design in 1900, the college turned to more bold, readable fonts.  This iteration uses a fully justified layout that is more striking as a brandmark than average for the time.

Pennants

Felt pennants, tied to the rise of college sports, became a ubiquitous college novelty item in the early 1900s.  Although Roanoke College (aka Averett) likely had no input in the layout of any of the early pennants, this Roanoke College design was included in a postcard "College Pennant Series" in the early 1900s, by the W.E. Ewart company.

1909 Catalog Design

Another early structural choice was the use of a small, highly abstracted image beneath the name of the college, which would behave like an ornate version of underlining.  This design, from a 1909 Bulletin, combines ribbons, bunting, and floral motifs into a stylized image that adds a touch of flair to the college name.

This undated cloth diamond "AC" logo is part of the collection of materials attributed to Dorothy Shipman, Averett librarian from 1930-48.  Featuring a design stylistically common to professional and collegiate athletics teams across the country throughout the 1900s, it is notably similar not only to the "RC" on the early 1900s pennant image on a previous slide, but also the logo used on the caps of the Averett baseball team in the mid-1990s.

Mid-Century Catalog Covers

This typeface (with a small sketch of Main Hall) was used on the cover of the college catalog from 1938 to 1969.  As the catalog was the central marketing item sent to potential students, this text would have been a recognizable part of Averett's identity for multiple decades.  This long-standing logo-esque choice was a stepping stone to our first official logo in 1970.

First Official Logo

In 1970, as Averett went thru numerous changes (co-education, racial integration, a turn to offering four-year degrees), a new logo was commissioned from Stein Educational Division to help with the rebranding process.  Although its usage becomes noticeably less frequent by 1973, it was Averett's first attempt at a modern branding campaign.

Late 1970s Logo

By 1975, this more wildly stylized variation on the first logo went into use.  While the typographic design of the full name drifted out of usage by the end of the 1970s, the large block "A" remained on official publications until the mid-1980s.  This design is likely also by Stein.

First Cougar Logo

In 1976, Athletic Director Joyce Weiblen coined the name Cougars for Averett's athletic teams.  In 1978, a competition to design a logo for the Cougars was won by student Rhea Bartha.  Her leaping cat design was used as the Averett athletics logo until 1985.

1990 Column Logo

In 1990, a full-scale redesign of Averett's brand identity was undertaken by Communicorp.  While the bulk of materials used a less ostentatious logotype reading "Averett: An American Classic," materials which required a more formal logo would use this early version of the Main Hall columns design.

1998 Column Redesign

In 1998, a team of staff and students undertook a redesign of the college logo.  While all elements are reminiscent of Communicorp's previous work, the design jettisons the remaining 1970s blocky stylization.  The word "College" would be replaced with "University" in 2001, maintaining a consistent brandmark across the school's renaming.

John B. Brewer

President Brewer, proud of Main Hall (built in 1910 during Brewer's tenure), managed to work in an image when affordable.  Otherwise his approach was basic: listing the fields of study, the price, and some general appeals.  Note the use of ad 'keying'; the reach of each publication would be tracked via otherwise meaningless variations to the school's address (Box A, Box B, etc.).

W.W. Rivers

The only known ad used by W.W. Rivers, it has been found in three different publications from the summer and fall of 1916 (this one from Ladies' Home Journal.)  Though copy is almost identical to Brewer, Rivers was more historically minded, stressing the college's founding date.  He also used keying more overtly, matching the 'Box' letter to the name of the publication ("Box L" for Ladies' Home Journal). 

C.E. Crosland

A Rhodes scholar, and one of the most academically minded Presidents in our history, Crosland's approach to advertising was distinctive.  With copy often tailored from ad to ad, he preferred to stress the variety of academic offerings at the school (sometimes down to bullet points), slightly decreasing the focus on general appeal and history (i.e. numbering the session rather than printing the founding date).

James P. Craft

Perhaps a bit self-conscious after Crosland, Craft listed his Harvard education often.  Otherwise, we see a relative return to Rivers' style: the founding date is stressed, the keying is extremely blunt (CO for Cosmopolitan, GH for Good Housekeeping), and general appeals get a little more overt.  An urge to pull prospects into better advertising is also clear from mentioning illustrations in catalogs and view books.

J.W. Cammack

Though Cammack's tenure was nearly as long as Crosland and Craft combined, he displayed minimal interest in advertising copy, either feeling 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it,' or simply not thinking highly of advertising at all.  After ten years, little had changed from Craft's copy.  Oddly, one of the most prominent changes was to redundantly list both the founding date and session number.

Curtis Bishop

Bishop's extreme Presidential tenure (30 years) shows as little tweaking as Cammack's and likely indicates that the agents at N.W. Ayer's "school service" (pamphlet cover to the right) had been fully in charge of Averett's ad copy for some time and were operating largely on autopilot, with minimal input from the President or anyone else at the college.

N.W. Ayer & Son at Work

By the mid-1940s, archival records exist clarifying our relationship with Ayer.  By this point, Ayer was corresponding regularly regarding copy choices (see image on the left) and even the inclusion of imagery (see image on the right).  The files helpfully list several publications in which we were advertising at the time, including Mademoiselle and Harper's Bazaar.