The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(02-21-2023 02:04 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 12:30 PM)BroncoMinor Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 08:38 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  A lot of your fellow Broncos like the yellow-gold.

I have no issue with the traditional yellow & gold being our University's primary color scheme. That is consistent with the history of our school.

There is a lot of evidence found in the early yearbooks which indicates the original WMU gold was a vegas/nugget/gold leaf color and not an athletic gold/golden/highway stripe yellow color.

I graduated with yellow gold as our color and never liked it. I love the vegas gold and brown color combination.

Yes, there are plenty examples of vegas (metallic) gold in the past from football helmets to yearbooks. Here is an example of a yearbook cover from 1950: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewc...t=yearbook

(02-21-2023 08:55 PM)BroncoFan2 Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 08:39 PM)flushtheherd Wrote:  So how is proudfoot still employed at WMU?

This guy created a problem to give himself an opportunity and then took that opportunity and threw it right in the garbage.

Because he’s not an educated marketing professional.

Yet that’s what he was hired to do.

Just straight incompetence across the board.

For some reason, Montgomery likes him.

The new Provost, however, does not appear to feel the same. He just announced that he is hiring his own marketing manager to work with Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management. This essentially neuters Proudfoot's influence in those areas.

All of it could be avoided if Montgomery would step up and show Proudfoot the door.

With a new AD, new VP of Enrollment, and new Provost, it's a perfect time to make a change and bring in a new VP of Marketing and Communication.

I couldn't agree more. It would be great to get a real marketing person in before the new student center opens this summer too. I'm not sure what you would do with all of Proudfoot's gear since it appears nobody wants it.

(02-21-2023 03:03 PM)MajorHoople Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 02:04 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 12:30 PM)BroncoMinor Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 08:38 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  A lot of your fellow Broncos like the yellow-gold.

I have no issue with the traditional yellow & gold being our University's primary color scheme. That is consistent with the history of our school.

There is a lot of evidence found in the early yearbooks which indicates the original WMU gold was a vegas/nugget/gold leaf color and not an athletic gold/golden/highway stripe yellow color.

Thst is true.

But then neither was black or grey.

For the first 70 years Western (State Normal School, State Teachers College, Michigan College, Michigan University) the color of gold was the Vegas/nugget/gold leaf color with a Brown W. But in the late 60's-early 70's the gold started to shift to a athletic gold/golden/highway stripe yellow color, then moved back to the original gold color in the late 1990's. I'm not sure when Western change the color of the W from Brown to Gold, but I suspect it was during the same period when the color of Gold changed. Regardless, when looking at our overall history, there is 90 years of Vegas/nugget/gold leaf color with a Brown W vs. only 30 years of athletic gold/golden/highway stripe yellow color. Pretty clear to me what color gold we should be using...

In my opinion teams should have a primary Brown jersey/helmet/hat and a primary Gold jersey/helmet/hat. But it is also acceptable to have alternative black, white and gray, as long as our Brown and gold colors are somehow included. For example, you could have a black alternate jersey with gold numbers using a gold helmet with a brown one color ghost bronco and brown stripes on it. I believe it is a mistake for the athletic department to make a black, white or gray jersey a primary jersey.

There are also special occasion themes/patterns such as camo, stars/stripes, purple/pink, etc. where a little more freedom should be allowed as it relates to not using the brown & gold colors, along with flexibility in the treatment and use of the spirit mark.

The athletic department should also be allowed to have alternate vintage/retro style jersey/uniforms honoring certain decades. One of my favorites is a vintage looking wool sweater for hockey or baseball, with that yellowish color (started out white, got bleached and turn to a yellowish tint) and a script font. Or the early 1900's baggie style gray wool looking baseball "knickers" and flat crown/small bill style hat with one color simple block letters. Or 1970's looking "high tube socks with stripes" seen in basketball along with John Stockton style short shorts. Lets not forget the 60's where they were using silk shorts/jerseys for basketball and track with belt buckles. And there is nothing wrong with using a older style spirit mark in conjunction with these vintage/retro style jerseys/uniforms. The book store would be wise to carry a whole section of vintage/retro style apparel and jerseys.

(02-22-2023 10:20 AM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 03:03 PM)MajorHoople Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 02:04 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 12:30 PM)BroncoMinor Wrote:  

(02-21-2023 08:38 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  A lot of your fellow Broncos like the yellow-gold.

I have no issue with the traditional yellow & gold being our University's primary color scheme. That is consistent with the history of our school.

There is a lot of evidence found in the early yearbooks which indicates the original WMU gold was a vegas/nugget/gold leaf color and not an athletic gold/golden/highway stripe yellow color.

Thst is true.

But then neither was black or grey.

For the first 70 years Western (State Normal School, State Teachers College, Michigan College, Michigan University) the color of gold was the Vegas/nugget/gold leaf color with a Brown W. But in the late 60's-early 70's the gold started to shift to a athletic gold/golden/highway stripe yellow color, then moved back to the original gold color in the late 1990's. I'm not sure when Western change the color of the W from Brown to Gold, but I suspect it was during the same period when the color of Gold changed. Regardless, when looking at our overall history, there is 90 years of Vegas/nugget/gold leaf color with a Brown W vs. only 30 years of athletic gold/golden/highway stripe yellow color. Pretty clear to me what color gold we should be using...

In my opinion teams should have a primary Brown jersey/helmet/hat and a primary Gold jersey/helmet/hat. But it is also acceptable to have alternative black, white and gray, as long as our Brown and gold colors are somehow included. For example, you could have a black alternate jersey with gold numbers using a gold helmet with a brown one color ghost bronco and brown stripes on it. I believe it is a mistake for the athletic department to make a black, white or gray jersey a primary jersey.

There are also special occasion themes/patterns such as camo, stars/stripes, purple/pink, etc. where a little more freedom should be allowed as it relates to not using the brown & gold colors, along with flexibility in the treatment and use of the spirit mark.

The athletic department should also be allowed to have alternate vintage/retro style jersey/uniforms honoring certain decades. One of my favorites is a vintage looking wool sweater for hockey or baseball, with that yellowish color (started out white, got bleached and turn to a yellowish tint) and a script font. Or the early 1900's baggie style gray wool looking baseball "knickers" and flat crown/small bill style hat with one color simple block letters. Or 1970's looking "high tube socks with stripes" seen in basketball along with John Stockton style short shorts. Lets not forget the 60's where they were using silk shorts/jerseys for basketball and track with belt buckles. And there is nothing wrong with using a older style spirit mark in conjunction with these vintage/retro style jerseys/uniforms. The book store would be wise to carry a whole section of vintage/retro style apparel and jerseys.

Great analysis and spot on.

While I really liked the black uniforms, I'm totally sold on the dark brown the hockey team currently uses. My son and I actually question whether they were black or brown on several occasions. I only wish they would bring back the vegas/metallic gold that I believe most WMU alumni/fans love. This particular color combination makes our university unique -- similar to "WMU".

I have no issue with WMU sporting throwback uniforms in brown and yellow gold. In fact, I still love my old WMU hockey jersey in the old colors and logo -- I just prefer the vegas/metallic gold color combination going forward.

In regard to the entire Proudfoot rebrand, I feel like this administration has thrown it out there but isn't exactly making it permanent since they're covering a lot of old logos instead of replacing them -- there are multiple examples of this around the athletic campus. Simply put, the new Bronco "Spirit Mark" lacks the detail of the old logo and circle W has simply been rejected from repeated comments on social media.

I would love to see the Outdoor GLI "White" jerseys used more often.

(03-01-2023 10:36 AM)SilentStryk09 Wrote:  I would love to see the Outdoor GLI "White" jerseys used more often.

I bought the 2015 Winter Classic (light) : https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...egUIARC1AQ

and 2013 Outdoor GLI (dark) hockey jersey, as it is one of my best WMU hockey memories: https://twitter.com/i/status/1476685892911828994

I happen to come across a CMU advertisement recently and it only reinforced my dislike of the WMU rebrand. It almost seems like WMU's marketing was trying to duplicate CMU's logo:



Let's check off the list:

1) Circle "C"
2) Bolded San Serif font
3) YELLOW instead of gold

We should be attempting to differentiate ourselves from our rival not only athletically but academically. You'd almost think the person heading the rebrand had no knowledge of our history or even who our rival is. Actually, it's pretty apparent he did not.

(03-17-2023 09:50 PM)BroncoMD Wrote:  I happen to come across a CMU advertisement recently and it only reinforced my dislike of the WMU rebrand. It almost seems like WMU's marketing was trying to duplicate CMU's logo:



Let's check off the list:

1) Circle "C"
2) Bolded San Serif font
3) YELLOW instead of gold

We should be attempting to differentiate ourselves from our rival not only athletically but academically. You'd almost think the person heading the rebrand had no knowledge of our history or even who our rival is. Actually, it's pretty apparent he did not.

(03-18-2023 01:31 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  

(03-17-2023 09:50 PM)BroncoMD Wrote:  I happen to come across a CMU advertisement recently and it only reinforced my dislike of the WMU rebrand. It almost seems like WMU's marketing was trying to duplicate CMU's logo:



Let's check off the list:

1) Circle "C"
2) Bolded San Serif font
3) YELLOW instead of gold

We should be attempting to differentiate ourselves from our rival not only athletically but academically. You'd almost think the person heading the rebrand had no knowledge of our history or even who our rival is. Actually, it's pretty apparent he did not.

I've never seen the "farting c" in a circle... maybe they were copying our Circle W?

I must say, the Circle W looks better in social media (like on Twitter) and other branding (like on TV and or ESPN scores and whatnot) than Buster's head (no matter which way it's facing).

I think the folks who thought this through had social media in mind... the Circle W is unmistakable. It's Western. Period. Buster's head is fine, but difficult to see the details on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

While the continued fallout about the rebrand really irks me because the way it rolled out was clearly disrespectful to the entire community, I still have no problem with the end result -- I am a dedicated alum and I love my Alma Mater. The Circle W looks fine to me as the university's main identity, with Buster's head for the athletic teams. I have no problem with Vegas Gold, but it does look too similar to Brown. Goldenrod is fine for me.

NO MATTER WHAT -- GO BRONCOS! ALL. DAMN. DAY!

(03-18-2023 08:39 PM)anthonybronco Wrote:  

(03-18-2023 01:31 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  

(03-17-2023 09:50 PM)BroncoMD Wrote:  I happen to come across a CMU advertisement recently and it only reinforced my dislike of the WMU rebrand. It almost seems like WMU's marketing was trying to duplicate CMU's logo:



Let's check off the list:

1) Circle "C"
2) Bolded San Serif font
3) YELLOW instead of gold

We should be attempting to differentiate ourselves from our rival not only athletically but academically. You'd almost think the person heading the rebrand had no knowledge of our history or even who our rival is. Actually, it's pretty apparent he did not.

I've never seen the "farting c" in a circle... maybe they were copying our Circle W?

I must say, the Circle W looks better in social media (like on Twitter) and other branding (like on TV and or ESPN scores and whatnot) than Buster's head (no matter which way it's facing)

I think the folks who thought this through had social media in mind... the Circle W is unmistakable. It's Western. Period. Buster's head is fine, but difficult to see the details on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

While the continued fallout about the rebrand really irks me because the way it rolled out was clearly disrespectful to the entire community, I still have no problem with the end result -- I am a dedicated alum and I love my Alma Mater. The Circle W looks fine to me as the university's main identity, with Buster's head for the athletic teams. I have no problem with Vegas Gold, but it does look too similar to Brown. Goldenrod is fine for me.

NO MATTER WHAT -- GO BRONCOS! ALL. DAMN. DAY!

The issue was and still is, the reasoning and rational for making any of these changes as they do nothing to improve or enhance our brand. Secondary was/is the design and execution.

As for the copycat "Buster", now there is a good reason to make some brand identity changes. In doing so, they should also consider a name change to "Peter The Great".

(03-19-2023 12:34 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  

(03-18-2023 08:39 PM)anthonybronco Wrote:  

(03-18-2023 01:31 PM)Brownandgoldlaker Wrote:  

(03-17-2023 09:50 PM)BroncoMD Wrote:  I happen to come across a CMU advertisement recently and it only reinforced my dislike of the WMU rebrand. It almost seems like WMU's marketing was trying to duplicate CMU's logo:



Let's check off the list:

1) Circle "C"
2) Bolded San Serif font
3) YELLOW instead of gold

We should be attempting to differentiate ourselves from our rival not only athletically but academically. You'd almost think the person heading the rebrand had no knowledge of our history or even who our rival is. Actually, it's pretty apparent he did not.

I've never seen the "farting c" in a circle... maybe they were copying our Circle W?

I must say, the Circle W looks better in social media (like on Twitter) and other branding (like on TV and or ESPN scores and whatnot) than Buster's head (no matter which way it's facing)

I think the folks who thought this through had social media in mind... the Circle W is unmistakable. It's Western. Period. Buster's head is fine, but difficult to see the details on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

While the continued fallout about the rebrand really irks me because the way it rolled out was clearly disrespectful to the entire community, I still have no problem with the end result -- I am a dedicated alum and I love my Alma Mater. The Circle W looks fine to me as the university's main identity, with Buster's head for the athletic teams. I have no problem with Vegas Gold, but it does look too similar to Brown. Goldenrod is fine for me.

NO MATTER WHAT -- GO BRONCOS! ALL. DAMN. DAY!

The issue was and still is, the reasoning and rational for making any of these changes as they do nothing to improve or enhance our brand. Secondary was/is the design and execution.

As for the copycat "Buster", now there is a good reason to make some brand identity changes. In doing so, they should also consider a name change to "Peter The Great".

...and a complete waste of WMU/alumni resources which could have been applied to a variety of other projects.

And I like the idea of "Peter the Great" which exemplifies the of the true origin of the Oaklands and our mascot.

Great news on the Western front! I've spotted signs of the original custom WMU typeface making a comeback on social media! It's coupled with the Circle W but at least it's progress!

Yeah, it's pretty evident that the rebrand is not gaining any traction with the WMU fan base. It's also pretty evident that this administration doesn't give a d@mn. We have enough old WMU gear to last until the next administration comes around.

Went to finally wear the bronco socks from giving day. The socks have two different colors of gold/yellow in the same sock. Yellow as well as Vegas gold. I know they are just socks, but how does that happen. But the all white bronco looks nice.

(06-05-2023 08:58 AM)Cocksman Wrote:  Went to finally wear the bronco socks from giving day. The socks have two different colors of gold/yellow in the same sock. Yellow as well as Vegas gold. I know they are just socks, but how does that happen. But the all white bronco looks nice.

I don't think you will find anyone surprised about the mismatched gold. As far as the spirit mark is concerned, it typically looks fine on smaller items because you cannot see the detail. As soon as you blow it up (see any sports midfield logo) it looks like high school artwork -- not even close to a Division IA collegiate logo. It makes my stomach turn looking at it at Waldo Stadium.

(06-07-2023 11:00 AM)BroncoMD Wrote:  

(06-05-2023 08:58 AM)Cocksman Wrote:  Went to finally wear the bronco socks from giving day. The socks have two different colors of gold/yellow in the same sock. Yellow as well as Vegas gold. I know they are just socks, but how does that happen. But the all white bronco looks nice.

I don't think you will find anyone surprised about the mismatched gold. As far as the spirit mark is concerned, it typically looks fine on smaller items because you cannot see the detail. As soon as you blow it up (see any sports midfield logo) it looks like high school artwork -- not even close to a Division IA collegiate logo. It makes my stomach turn looking at it at Waldo Stadium.

I think the new athletic logo is great. I'm frustrated that I STILL can't buy any brown & white gear yet with the athletic logo. Everything still has versions with yellow in the logo that look terrible.

(06-08-2023 12:09 PM)BroncoMinor Wrote:  

(06-07-2023 11:00 AM)BroncoMD Wrote:  

(06-05-2023 08:58 AM)Cocksman Wrote:  Went to finally wear the bronco socks from giving day. The socks have two different colors of gold/yellow in the same sock. Yellow as well as Vegas gold. I know they are just socks, but how does that happen. But the all white bronco looks nice.

I don't think you will find anyone surprised about the mismatched gold. As far as the spirit mark is concerned, it typically looks fine on smaller items because you cannot see the detail. As soon as you blow it up (see any sports midfield logo) it looks like high school artwork -- not even close to a Division IA collegiate logo. It makes my stomach turn looking at it at Waldo Stadium.

I think the new athletic logo is great. I'm frustrated that I STILL can't buy any brown & white gear yet with the athletic logo. Everything still has versions with yellow in the logo that look terrible.

Yeah, even the brown and white circle dub athletics uses doesn’t exist much. Most everything the school sells has some yellow and often includes that stupid font.

Why would you want brown and white gear?

White is not one of our school colors and is extremely plain-boring when used on helmets-home uniforms.

Gold - whichever you prefer ('Vegas' or yellow) - is much better.

The "Circle 'W'" is bad but not because of the colors.

(06-08-2023 01:48 PM)MajorHoople Wrote:  Why would you want brown and white gear?

White is not one of our school colors and is extremely plain-boring when used on helmets-home uniforms.

Gold - whichever you prefer ('Vegas' or yellow) - is much better.

The "Circle 'W'" is bad but not because of the colors.

Brown and white is simplified, clean, and looks good together. WMU Athletics likes it and adopted it. So Im not the only one. WMU hockey looks great in dark brown and white. Many people want what athletics uses. This is where the whole ghost bronco came from. That was not an official school logo for awhile and fans wanted it.