How to Draw a Husky

Northeastern University has a terrible logo.  To understand the state of this latest atrocity, we must look at its genealogy.  How have we gone from the home of Reggie Lewis, NCAA tournament bids and Beanpot glory to a list-obsessed university trying to hack away any visages of its co-op uniqueness to become a standard university Barbie doll?  It's clearly the logos.

A deeper thinker studying Art History (i.e, future apartment realtor) might say the present logo, in place the last few years, represents NU's self-flagellation from trying to become just another generic 4-year college. Amid rumors of dropping its co-op program and ultimately offering a 4-year option for students, NU hurt itself and tried negating its primary identity, the co-op program.  The red eyes representing the deal with the devil President Freeland made with that tempting mistress, U.S. News and World Report, to get into the Top 100. 

But, I know what you are thinking.  The person that gave that poor vampire dog a bowl of magma and melted his snout should be hanged.  But, nay, this was drawn of purpose!  They even put it on the hockey jerseys.  Imagine trying to instill fear into your opponent while wearing a maimed canine on your sweater.  The hockey players must never cease getting crap for this. I would never stop taunting an NU player if I played for BU. "Hey, nice cleft-lipped demon dog, clown."  This is probably why we never win a 4-team tournament.  (You have to win 2 games in a row and you WIN the tournament!  Haven't done it since '88.)  Imagine for a second NU won the men's basketball tournament of the league we are the most northern member by far of, the CAA.  NU is in the NCAA tournament and CBS does a 3D spinning image of that monstrosity while Jim Nantz downplays the graphic showing NU getting out-rebounded 34-8 by number one seed UNC.  Even South Dakota State's looked good on TV and they are 500 miles from any metropolis.



This primary logo, rolled out in 2004, represented a small heyday for NU.  It's actually isn't that bad; representing the resurgence of the basketball team led by Puerto-Rican parade getting, Miss Universe dating, NBA Champion, Jose Juan Barea.  We were flying high, invited to the NIT and almost beat Uconn.  The wordmark logo looks professional and has the Boston skyline on it.  It's a solid update on the previous triangle logo.  However, how would the husky eat without a lower jaw especially with its new set of human teeth?  What the previous logo did get right was a set of real canine teeth.  If you are going to show a dog growling, at least make it look like it can bite you not grind plant matter down like a Brontosaurus.  Both of those logos are a mouthful to put on a jersey or a hat though.  So, they were reserved for letterhead and official websites while a more ubiquitous image was displayed.

The logo when I was in college and still in place some places, the red and black "N".  Oooh.  It reflects simplicity and the bold stance the university takes in the middle of an urban landscape.  The two distinct colors represent the dichotomy of the modern student-athlete or the two sides of the student and the co-op...all of which is probably the same crap whoever pitched it came up with.  Points for simplicity, but one is the actual logo, one is something I made on Microsoft Paint in 90 seconds.  It is especially not impressive when put on athletic conference websites next to other logos that were created by real graphical artists not some stoned Mass Art student who laughingly took $100 from Northeastern to create the SYMBOL OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSITY.  The logo screams "I have nothing to say.  I will get my degree, try to get a good job and move on with my life having no attachment to my alma mater."  I guess it was a simpler time before Mr. and Mrs. Husky gave birth to Paws.

We end with the graphical representation of NU from 1987-1998.  A proud husky mounting Nebraska's logo and dominating it into submission.  But again, human teeth.  Eh, our best try.  A throwback to being a commuter school with Jim Calhoun as the basketball coach, NU's own Reggie Lewis playing for the Boston Celtics, Beanpot victories and the YMCA serving as "on-campus" housing.  The birth of our best cheer - chanting "safety school" to Harvard - perhaps? 

Alas, we have gone from Proud Husky to Melted Snout, just as Northeastern has gone through it's disjointed growth with some misfires yet more successes.  It's too bad our logo doesn't reflect that.  But, I don't want to be one of those people who complains without having solutions.  A better image of my alma mater is out there.  It is used by an university that has N and U in its acronym, its colors are red and black, AND they are the huskies.  Ladies and gentlemen presenting Northern Illinois Northeastern University's new logo:

Go NU!

-K