In the Fall of 2006, I took a great job with the New Mexico State Athletic Department.One of the first things I asked to tackle was what I called the, "further development" of the doomed school mascot. A redesign in 2005 left the market less than happy with the "Lasso Larry" mark that replaced the shared "cowboy" logo from Oklahoma State.
The re-design of the physical mascot's costume (pictured between the old and new marks), was extremely popular with students alumni and the community. Working with New Mexico graphic artist Richard Evarts of Artesia, we collaborated to transition the lasso mark to a pistol mark.
I felt it was important that the overall integrity of the mark stayed intact(we left the original wordmark in place). After all, we wanted some consistency in the brand which had been working for a few years already. I didn't want to have to start from scratch.
The final product was the result of about 15 re-designs, consisting of 10-12 different representations of the mark each time(Poor Richard worked his tail off.)
The new logo was debuted on some thermal mugs at the Men's Basketball home Opener against Pacific. People were thrilled to see the Pistol back in Pete and a new star was (re)born!
While I was at it, I got the green light to develop our logo and brand portfolio a little more. I'd have to say the biggest contribution was the "Aggie Country" mark. I was trying to think of a way to represent not only a physical place, but the state of mind and special place in every "Ag's" heart. I wanted a mark that would be on signs in people's front yards--"Welcome to Aggie Country," and in the form of rear windshield graphics on the army of suped-up pick-ups camping out in the Ag School parking lots.
It racked my brains for a few days, but finally I decided the mark should somehow include the majestic Organ Mountains which many an Aggie grow to love(and miss), even years after they are out of Las Cruces.
The rest was as easy as laying some text over it. We have a winner!
Finally, I wanted to create something that utilizing the essence of New Mexico. The debacle had turned a lot of people off to the athletic/mascot mark and merchandise was not selling very well.
What single part of New Mexico culture could we use to represent the institution while appealing to a variety of markets?
California has the bear. Texas has the Star. As for New Mexico? They have the Zia.
As a test run, I had a local seamstress create a 5x7-foot New Mexico flag fielding the school's colors instead of the states traditional royal red and gold. We threw that puppy in the student section at the football game against the University of New Mexico and they couldn't get enough.
I used the crimson sun symbol and gave the rays a liquid look. Making sure it had some legs outside of the local market, I used the standard"Aggie" font to splash "New Mexico State" across the front to identify the brand.
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