By Nader Boraie

RediscoveringKING HUSKYA N E W L O G O F O R A N U I C O N

RediscoveringKING HUSKYK I L L I N G T H E Z O M B I E H U S K Y T O C R E A T E A N U I C O N

RediscoveringKING HUSKYA N E W I D E N T I T Y T O R E S T O R E A N U I C O N

RediscoveringKING HUSKYP r o p e r l y b r a n d i n g a n N U i c o n .

RediscoveringKING HUSKYE N D I N G T H E Z O M B I E H U S K Y ’ S R E I G N .C R E A T I N G A N U I C O N .

Table of Contents

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3

9

13

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In t roduct ion

The H is to ry o f K ing Husky

Husky Brand ing

Rev iva l o f the Zombie Husky

Good vs . Bad Des ign

Rediscover ing K ing Husky

1

Introduction

I n 2007 , I , a long wi th many o thers

entered Nor theastern Un ivers i ty as a

f reshman. As a f reshman go ing

th rough o r ientat ion , I d is t inc t l y

remember go ing th rough E l l Ha l l ,

see ing the b ronze s ta tue o f K ing

Husky, learn ing about

Nor theastern be ing the second schoo l

to adapt the Husky as a mascot , and

hear ing how s tudents would

commonly rub K ing Husky ’s nose fo r

good luck every semester.

I remember look ing a t the bookstore

fo r Nor theastern appare l to suppor t

my chosen un ivers i ty and upon my

f i r s t g lance v iewing the Nor theastern

Husky logo , I was baf f led that such a

g reat schoo l would a l low fo r i t s own

mascot to look so poor ly des igned .

F rom 2007 onwards , I as wel l as any

o ther Nor theastern s tudent have

wi tnessed th ree d i f fe rent Husk ies

come and go . A l though none o f these

rebrands have rea l l y le f t an impact

wi th s tudents o r the genera l pub l i c ,

the most recent adaptat ion o f the

Nor theastern Husky has s tudents ,

facu l ty, and o thers in d isbe l ie f that i t

i s an ac tua l o f f i c ia l un ivers i ty logo .

Throughout the years i t a lmost seems

as i f the b rand ing was improv ing , but

the most cur rent vers ion o f our Husky

has been a ser ious s tep backwards .

As the second schoo l to adapt the

Husky as i t s own mascot and the

la rge amount o f Husky p r ide

Nor theastern s tudents have , I fee l as

i f the logos Nor theastern have been

us ing have rea l l y done an in jus t i ce

to K ing Husky, Husky p r ide , and the

a th le t i c image of Nor theastern i t se l f .

Due to th is d i lemma, in my sen io r

year, wi th the oppor tun i ty to c reate

my own degree p ro jec t , I dec ided to

exp lo re the h is to ry o f K ing Husky in

hopes o f a t tempt ing to to red iscover

K ing Huksy, rebrand the Husky i t se l f ,

and make a t ru ly i con ic ident i ty fo r

Nor theastern ’s h is to r i c mascot . I n o r-

der to c reate a new, t ru ly i con ic K ing

Husky, and have a so l id

unders tand ing o f how I came to the

f ina l outcome, I be l ieve i t ’s necessary

to look a t the h is to ry beh ind

Nor theasterns Husky, exp lo re the

b rand ing th roughout the years , and

po in t out the f laws of the cur rent ,

rev ived un ivers i ty zombie Husky.

Th is book le t se rves to educate about

the h is to ry beh ind K ing husky, whi le

a lso showing the background o f

Nor theastern ’s own Husky logos , and

the dec is ion mak ing that took p lace

in o rder to s ta r t the p rocess o f

rebrand ing and red iscover ing K ing

Husky.

Introduction

2

3

The History of King HuskyI n 1927 Nor theastern became the

f i r s t co l lege to choose the Husky as

i t ’s Mascot . On March 4 , 1927

Nor theastern aqu i red the ac tua l

husky, Sapsut , whom came f rom a

l ineage o f s led dog roya l ty.

Nor theastern t ranspor ted Sapsut f rom

Alaska to Nor th Stat ion in Boston in

o rder to o f f i c ia l l y obta in i t s own

mascot . Sapsut ’s a r r i va l was

ce lebrated by over 1 ,000 s tudents

and c lasses were cance l led in o rder

to welcome h im as a par t o f

Nor theastern . The Nor theastern

Un ivers i ty p res ident awarded the

husky wi th an honorary degree and

f rom that moment fo rward was named

K ing Husky. K ing Husky s tayed wi th

Nor theastern Un ivers i ty fo r four teen

years and a f te r h is pass ing , h is

l ineage had been passed down

th rough generat ions o f new K ing

Husky ’s which represent

Nor theastern , have become of f i c ia l

mascots , have won numerous

p res t ig ious kenne l c lub shows, and

become a la rge par t o f the

Nor theastern Un ivers i ty cu l tu re . Up

unt i l 1989 , the o r ig ina l Sapsut , o r

K ing Husky ’s l ineage had been passed

down to o ther K ing Husk ies that had

taken h is p lace .

However, in 1989 , due to the las t

K ing Husky V I I pass ing , there was a

14 year gap wi thout a rea l husky

mascot unt i l 2003 when s tudents

voted to f i l l K ing Husky ’s shoes wi th

a new Husky.

Th is Husky was a younger and f ie rcer

can ine named Paws. A l though Paws

was set to f i l l K ing Husky ’s shoes ,

in 2005 , another member ha i l ing

f rom Sapsut ’s l ineage was b rought to

Nor theastern and c rowned K ing Husky

V I I I .

S ince then , both Paws and K ing

Husky V I I I have been in a t tendance o f

Nor theastern home ath le t i cs events

and they have cont inued to win

p res t ig ious kenne l c lub shows whi le

a lso showing the i r Nor theastern

p r ide .

The History of King Husky

4

5

Husky Timeline: 1927 – 2012

King Husky I March 4, 1927

Sapsut is brought from Alaska & officially crowned King Husky I.

King Husky IMarch 26, 1941

King Husky I passes away due to old age.

King Husky IIAugust, 1952

King Husky II abdicates.

Throughout the history of Northeastern, the first occurance of an official, live Husky mascotappeared in 1927. Since then, there have been many successors whom passed down and followed in King Husky I’s footsteps.

Queen Husky IApril 16, 1941

Queen Husky I is crowned.

Queen Husky IJuly 1941

Queen Husky I passes away.

King Husky IIJanuary 1942

King Husky II is crowned.

King Husky IIISeptember 24, 1952

King Husky III is crowned.

King Husky IIIJune, 1955

King Husky III is passes away.

Princess Regent Husky ISeptember, 1955

Princess Regent Husky I is crowned after student outrage on the death of King Husky III.

The History of King Husky

6

King Husky IVFebruary, 1958

King Husky IV replaces Princess Regent husky I

King Husky IVAugust, 1958

King Husky IV passes away & his father, Alyeskas

Suggen acts as a temporary replacement.

Alyekas SuggenAugust, 1960

Alyeskas Suggen retires as a temporary replacement.

King Husky VSeptember, 1965

King Husky V purchased by the class of 1970.

King Husky VMay, 1970

Class of 1970 graduates & takes King Husky V back.

Queen Husky II is pur-chased by the class of 1974

King Husky VISeptember, 1972

Queen Husky II abdicates due to stage fright. King

Husky VI is crowned.

King Husky VIDecember, 1972

King Husky VI escapes and is hit by car, causing him to

need to be put to sleep.King Husky VII

?

King Husky VII crowned.

King Husky VII 1989

King Husky VII passes away and no live mascot

takes his place for 14 years.

Paws 2003

Students vote to let Paws to fill King Husky’s shoes.

King Husky VIII & Paws 2005 – Present

A member of Sapsut’s family is brought to NU to reign as

King Husky with Paws.

?

Huskies crowned

Huskies relieved

Huskies passed

Previous Huskies

Huskies reigning

14

5

7

12

2

7 The History of King Husky

8

9

Northeastern’s Husky BrandingAs a par t o f my research , I searched

th rough Nor theastern ’s l ib ra ry

a rch ives fo r any t race o f o r ig ins o f

any husky logos . Unfor tunate ly,

noth ing was found concern ing the

husky logos . However, a f te r go ing

though numerous yearbooks , and a l l

o f the a rch ived f i les on the

Nor theastern Logos and sea ls , one

th ing became c lear to me;

Nor theastern has had a lack o f

cons is tency wi th b rand image and

logos , whether i t be fo r a th le t i cs ,

husky logos , o r jus t in genera l . I

thought I would come across a la rge

amount o f o lder Husky logos .

Unfor tunate ly, that was not the case .

F rom what I have come across , there

on ly seems to be one husky that was

used ear l ie r than the 1980 Husky.

Th is husky was a s i lhouet te o f a

s ing le s tand ing Husky in 1935 , used

by the Nor theastern footba l l team.

One of the in te res t ing th ings I found

was a p iece o f paper f rom 1940

exp la in ing the meaning beh ind

Nor theastern ’s la t in Mot to , “Lux ,

Ver i tas Vi r tus” which I be l ieve can

he lp in the genera l d i rec t ion o f the

Husky logo . Th is mot to means L ight ,

Tru th , and Manl iness , but , Vi r tus does

have servera l meanings . These

meanings convey Nor theastern ’s

idea ls o f courage , v i r tue , exce l lence ,

b ravery, and v igor.

When observ ing the Husky logos that

Nor theastern has had th roughout i t s

h is to ry, i t i s apparent that there have

been no logos that have las ted more

than 6 years except fo r one , the 1987

Husky which combines the Husky wi th

the Nor theastern s lab ser i f N . The

rap id ly chang ing logos a re

p rob lemat ic because in o rder fo r a

logo to be i con ic o r memorab le , i t

cannot be complete ly changed wi th in

a few years . As ide f rom th is , i t has

become apparent that there has been

a lack o f b rand cons is tency wi th

Nor theastern as a whole . A l though

the cur rent o f f i c ia l Husky i s one

par t i cu la r Husky, a round campus and

on a thet ic mater ia l , mul t ip le vers ions

o f husk ies ex is t . Th is c reates a lack

o f ident i ty and causes s tudents and

o thers to not be sure what our own

of f i c ia l logo i s .

I be l ieve the c losest logo that came

c lose to be ing i con ic was the shor t

l i ved 2008-2009 husky that

i l lus t ra ted a f ie rce and courageous

husky. However, th is logo a l ready

looks l i ke a mascot , meaning that i t

doesn ’t seem l i ke the des ign s tems

f rom a rea l husky. I t a lmost seems

toy l i ke because o f the the very r idg id

des ign and curves o f the shape o f the

husky head i t se l f .

Northeastern’s Husky Branding

10

Another in te res t ing a t tempt was the

uppercase s lab ser i f N wi th the husky

in between used in 1987 . I th ink wi th

a few modi f i ca t ions that th is vers ion

o f the Husky cou ld be improved and

serve as a sup lementary vers ion o f

the husky logo .

Nor theastern ’s cur rent 2009 – 2012

b rand ing gu ide a ims a t re f lec t ing the

l i fes ty le o f “The Husky Way” which

i s supposed to convey the idea ls o f

leadersh ip , empowerment , and

apprec ia t ion o f d i f fe rence . A long s ide

o f those idea ls , Nor theastern wishes

to convey a f ie rce determinat ion and

tough , g r i t t y f ight that shows our

pass ion .

I and many o thers be l ieve that the

newly rev ived logo does not p roper ly

i l lus t ra te the message that

Nor theastern i s t r y ing to convey. Fo r

that reason , i t i s impor tant to me that

g iven the oppor tun i ty to c reate my

own degree p ro jec t , that I a t tempt to

c reate a wel l des igned , memorab le ,

and i con ic Husky that can redef ine

Nor theasterns Ath le t i c ident i ty and

re ins t i l l Husky p r ide . I t i s impor tant

to cons ider the h is to ry beh ind the

famous K ing Husky as wel l as

mainta in that the p r inc ip les o f good

des ign a re taken in to cons iderat ion

in o rder to c reate an i con ic logo that

Nor theastern can be p roud o f .

1935 Football Uniform Husky. Displayed as a silhouette. This may have

been one of the better attempts at a Northeastern University husky logo.

11

Branding Timeline: 1980 – 2012

1980 – 1986

The first official Husky logo adapted by Northeastern University. Commonly seen worn on the 1985 Hockey team which won the beanpot.

1987 – 1998

This Husky logo included multiple variations with a less aggressive facial expression and without the Northeastern N. This has been the longest lasting Northeastern Husky.

1999 – 2003

Serving as one of the most unique Husky logos, this iteration also contained multiple variations for different usage. It was also uniquely locked up in a triangle formation for athletics.

Throughout the history of Northeastern, the first occurance of an official Husky logo appeared in 1980. Since then, four new logos have been used throughout the years, only to bring back the first official logo again in the present day.

Northeastern’s Husky Branding

12

2004 – 2007

This Husky logo also included multiple variations and is

commonly used for Northeastern athletics even today. It also seems

as if it was derived from the 1987 version and accompanies

the Huskies logotype below.

2008 – 2009

As the most recently re-branded Husky, this

iteration exemplifies the fierce and competitive

nature of Northeastern’s Atheltics and seems to be a

revision of the previous logo, but looks like a toy husky rather than a real husky.

2009 – Present

The first official Northeastern Husky,

revived for present day use by the urging of the current

Hockey team in hopes to instill more husky pride.

13

Revival of the Zombie HuskyThe re in t roduct ion o f the ear ly 1980 ’s

husky was a b ig mis take in

a t tempt ing to make the Nor theastern

husky a g reat logo o r i con . The husky

i s memorab le , but on ly in a poor ly

des igned , “what were they th ink ing?”

type o f way. When look ing a t the

cur rent Nor theastern husky logo i t

seems as i f i t was a rough i l lus t ra ted

sketch fo r the d i rec t ion to go in fo r a

f ina l logo . Th is logo doesn ’t t rans la te

wel l when d isp layed a t smal le r s i zes

and in one co lo r because the loose

l ines and incons is tent marks make

i t look ind is t ingu ishab le . As ide f rom

that , the red eyes make the husky

seem l i ke i t i s rab id dog o r a

zombie that jus t dug i t se l f out o f a

pet cemetary.

D iss imi la r to the o ther husky logo ’s ,

the cur rent “v in tage” logo has no

emot ion in i t ’s fac ia l express ion ,

mak ing i t seem a lmost apathet ic .

Th is seems to make no sense fo r the

use o f a th le t i cs , espec ia l l y wi th the

use o f the red eyes , one would th ink

f ie rce would be the look a iming to be

accompl ished . Another e lement o f the

des ign that does not work i s the use

o f the red s t roke a round the husky

sur rounded by a b lack s t roke outs ide

o f that . In the 80s th is may have been

used to app ly the logo patch to

un i fo rms , but th is i s an outdated

concept and has no need to be a par t

o f a logo . Th is as wel l as the o ther

e lements makes the logo look very

amateur and doesn ’t g ive o f f the

p ro fess iona l o r compet i t i ve image

of a co l lege ’s i con , le t a lone a h igh

schoo l ’s i con .

The reason ing which insp i red th is ,

“v in tage” logo to be rev ived s temmed

f rom the u rg ing o f the cur rent Hockey

team to b r ing back the 80 ’s logo that

was worn on the teams je rsey ’s when

they won the beanpot . However, i t

seems to fo l low the la tes t t rend

o f v in tage insp i red des ign . I f the

v in tage des ign was wel l done in the

f i r s t p lace , that i s one th ing , but , the

in th is case the des ign was not wel l

done . Fo r that reason , th is zombie

husky shou ld be p roper ly rebur ied in

the pet cemetary that i t came f rom.

Revival of the Zombie Husky

14

1980 Hockey uniforms display the first Husky logo. This uniform was worn

while Northeastern amazingly went on to win the beanpot with a last minute shot.

15

Thermo Dynamic Rab id Red Aura

Magnet ic fo rehead p ro t rus ions

Se l f Dest ruc t i ve shad ing

Zombie eyes

Tear d rop widows peak

Broken Nose

Apathet ic Energy F ie ld

Bat t le scars?

Double ch in g rav i ta t iona l pu l l

Par t ia l l y b i t ten ear

Zombie Husky: A Flawed Canine

Revival of the Zombie Husky

16

17

Good vs. Bad DesignDes ign i s def ined as an in te l lec tua l

p rocess in which des igners serve

as p rob lem so lvers by us ing the i r

in te l lec t and exper ience to deter-

mine what i s the best approach to

a so lu t ion . However an impor tant

quest ion to ask was , when look ing a t

des ign how does one te l l the d i f fe r-

ence between good and bad des ign?

To beg in exp lo r ing the d i f fe rence

between good and bad des ign , I

looked a t D ie te r Rams ten p r in -

c ip les o f good des ign . D ie te r Rams

is a German indust r ia l des igner who

is notab ly assoc ia ted fo r h is work

wi th Braun . D ie te r Rams in famous ly

def ined good des ign by ten p r inc ip les

that many des igners use to gu ide

the i r des ign today. Good des ign i s :

innovat ive , makes a p roduct usefu l ,

i t i s aesthet ic , i t makes a p roduct

unders tandab le , i t i s unobt rus ive ,

good des ign i s honest , i t i s long las t -

ing , i t i s complete ly thorough , i t i s

env i ronmenta l l y f r iend ly, and las t l y,

good des ign i s as l i t t le des ign as

poss ib le . The ten p r inc ip les def ined

by D ie te r Rams were a g reat he lp to

me and in f luenced the f ina l concept I

deve loped and a r r i ved a t .

The p r inc ip les that in f luenced the

process o f Red iscover ing K ing

Husky a re shown to the le f t .

Good vs. Bad Design

14

Dieter Rams iconic principles and his work with Braun have influenced designers as well as a few notable companies. Apple is

not afraid to admit that from user interface design to the product design as a whole.

Is as little design as possible.

Is completely thorough.

Is honest.

Is long lasting.

Is aesthetic.

Is innovative.

Good Design...

19

Rediscovering King HuskyThe p rocess o f red iscover ing K ing

Husky has been long and ted ious . I t

s ta r ted out by do ing research on K ing

husky and Nor theastern , then I co l -

lec ted images o f K ing Husky and h is

in f luence on Nor theastern ’s cu l tu re

as a whole . F rom there I s ta r ted

c reat ing numerous rough sketches

which I then t rans la ted to rough

i l lus t ra t ions . I began by tak ing the

more t rad i t iona l mascot approach and

mak ing a car toony type o f husky that

fo l lowed the d i rec t ion Nor theastern

and genera l spor ts b rand ing has gone

in . Then , I dec ided to s t r ip down the

des ign and fo l low the i con ic des ign

p r i c ip les f rom Dieter Rams in o rder

to c reate a more s t reaml ined and

s impl i f ied logo . F rom there , I ex -

p lo red the p ro f i le v iew of the husky

and began exp lo r ing the o r ientat ion

and ac t ions o f the husky that would

be d isp layed . The concept that I a r-

r i ved a t was one husky wi th mul t ip le

var ia t ions to su i t d i f fe rent usages .

Th is was impor tant to me so that one

husky cou ld be app l ied in var ious

ways fo r usage . One s tandard Husky

cou ld be used fo r genera l usage ,

whi le a more aggress ive one cou ld be

used fo r compet i t i ve usage such as

ath le t i cs , and one to show husky

p r ide . The main goa l fo r th is was to

c reate a t ru ly versat i le ident i ty.

To the r ight a re a number o f rough

sketches , rough i l lus t ra t ions , deta i l s ,

and concepts which were cons idered

and used to a id in the c reat ion o f the

new husky logo ident i ty. Whi le the

sketches a re not rea l i s t i c o r ex t reme-

ly wel l done , they were ex t remely

he lp fu l in exp lo r ing the o r ientat ion

and look that the Husky logo cou ld

have gone in .

One o f the main in f luences I kept

in mind f rom Dieter Rams was that

“good des ign i s as l i t t le des ign as

poss ib le” so fo r that reason , I rea l l y

t r ied to s impl i fy my sketches and

rough i l lus t ra t ions to see where I

cou ld go wi th i t . Fo r a l i t t le whi le ,

I was th ink ing o f on ly inc lud ing a

logo fo r va r ia t ions o f the Husky head .

However, I fe l t that i t was l imi t ing

and a lso wouldn ’t do the logo jus t i ce

jus t to use an image of a husky head .

Af te r that I began to th ink that the

husky might not need spec i f i c char-

ac te r i s t i cs and cou ld essent ia l l y be

used as a super s impl i f ied i con . F rom

there , I began add ing a l i t t le more

deta i l and b rought the husky to i t s

f ina l s tages .

Rediscovering King Husky

20

23 Rediscovering King Husky

24

Northeastern ’s s lab ser i f N went in

the r ight d i rec t ion wi th the sp l i t N

des ign . However i t seemed to fa l l

between the c racks in s tand ing out

amongst the c rowd because o f the

gener ic shape o f the le t te r fo rm.

Many peop le ac tua l l y confuse i t wi th

the Nebraska Huskers s lab ser i f N a t

a g lance . Fo r th is reason , I deve loped

my own s lab ser i f N which i s accom-

pan ied by a custom typeface so that

the Husky a th le t i cs as a whole cou ld

have a more cohes ive image.

Or ig ina l l y I had no p lans to touch the

sp l i t paw des ign , but a f te r hear ing

a g reat dea l o f feedback , i t became

c lear that many s tudents fe l t unsat is -

f ied wi th the cur rent sp l i t paw des ign

because o f i t s cu t and paste s tenc i l

fee l . Many peop le c la imed i t looks

l i ke i t cou ld have been a p iece o f c l ip

a r t , which i s ce r ta in ly never a good

th ing . So fo r that reason , I dec ided to

rev is i t the sp l i t paw and c reate a new

paw that I thought had a more f ie rce

look .

As you can see , there a re a decent

amount o f logos that accompany the

newly c reated th ree main s tandard

Nor theastern Logos ( top row) . As fa r

as the husk ies go , there a re 4 main

var ia t ions : Nob le , F ie rce , Howl ing ,

and Jumping . Add i t iona l l y, a s i l -

houet ted logo o f a husky badge was

incorporated fo r p ro fess iona l usage .

Fo r a th le t i c usage , a f ie rcer a th le t i c

badge was c reated .

Whi le in many cases mul t ip le logos

can c reate an incons is tency wi th

b rand ing , I be l ieve that th is case i s

d i f fe rent . By us ing the same fo rm

of the husky fo r the each usage ,

a l though cer ta in th ings may d i f fe r,

the husky and b rand ing in i t se l f i s re -

in fo rced in ways that make the husky

versat i le .

I a lso dec ided to re in fo rce the sp l i t

co lo rs o f Red and B lack due to

the way in which the b lack po in ts

towards the Nor theast to fu r ther

enforce the bo ld look and fee l o f new

brand ing .

Whi le most o f th is p rocess focused

on K ing Husky and the b rand ing o f the

Nor theastern husky spec i f i ca l l y, the

fac t o f the mat te r i s , Nor theastern ’s

b rand ing as a whole cou ld have used

some a l te ra t ions .

I hope that th is book le t has been

in fo rmat ive , educat iona l , and

in t r igu ing . I t i s my hope that you a lso

en joy the new d i rec t ion o f b rand ing

I have env is ioned fo r Nor theastern ’s

Ath le t i cs . I t was my goa l to c reate a

un ique and impress ive ident i ty that

can potent ia l l y be used fo r years to

come and be an i con ic symbol o f k ing

husky.

Thank you...

A new identity to restore a NU icon

Given the oppor tun i ty to c reate my

own degree p ro jec t , the idea o f

rebrand ing Nor theastern ’s Husky was

a cha l lenge that I thought would

be ex t remely benef ic ia l . In o rder

to p roper ly rebrand Nor theastern ’s

Husky, I be l ieve i t was impor tant to

cons ider the h is to ry beh ind the fa -

mous K ing Husky as wel l as mainta in

that the p r inc ip les o f good des ign

a re taken in to cons iderat ion in o rder

to c reate an i con ic logo that can

redef ine the image of Nor theastern ,

which s tudents , a th le tes , and facu l ty

can be p roud o f and use fo r the years

to come.