Death of an Era
The University of North Dakota’s transition from the Fighting Sioux to the Fighting Hawks.
In 2012, the “Fighting Sioux" nickname was reluctantly forced away from the University of North Dakota by the NCAA. Since then, UND has pushed forward without a nickname, relying heavily on their reconditioned "ND" monogram as a primary mark. In the meantime, UND spent a healthy budget to orchestrate a process that would reveal a new nickname, with a series of polls and voting amongst the North Dakotan community members and UND alumni. The “Fighting Hawks” ultimately prevailed in the end, but with significant resistance. The challenge was to create some positive momentum amidst an undesirable scenario, by offering some supercharged visuals that could help fans envision the possibilities of the new name and future UND brand. After working through several concepts, two primary mark variations were selected along with an adjusted monogram lockup. They aim to demonstrate the breadth of possibilities ranging from traditional to progressive.
