Oxford University Press unvails new logo

LONDON: Oxford University Press (OUP) Monday launched a new logo which, it said, is designed to support its ongoing transformation to become a digital-first business and enhance its aim to make knowledge and learning more accessible using technology.

The branding has been designed by an agency named Superunion with refinements by typographer and logo designer Rob Clarke. It features Oxford's name and an icon showing the turning pages of a book forming the 'O' of the popular university press.

It represents Oxford's heritage as a print publisher, and its transformation to a future of multi-format content publishing. The previous logo was just the name Oxford in a serif font and more traditional than this logo. It hadn't been updated in over 30 years.

Speaking about the new brand, OUP CEO Nigel Portwood said throughout its 400-year-old history, this new brand identity is "designed to keep OUP at the forefront of the industry as it continues to evolve to become a digital-first business while acknowledging there will always be a demand for print, too".

"It is indicative of our commitment to evolve as a business so we can continue advancing knowledge and learning in every corner of the world. From a child reading their first words to a researcher expanding the frontiers of their field, we strive to help more and more people around the world achieve their potential," he said.

"When we know more, we can solve new problems and explore fresh opportunities. But the world - and the needs of education and research - are constantly evolving, and so are we. This brand launch, and our commitment to this through our work, is the reason for the logo change," he added. OUP said it has continued to evolve to make the most of new technologies, something that has accelerated in Covid times.

In response to the rapid changes in customer needs from the start of the pandemic, OUP enhanced its platforms and made a significant number of digital resources widely available to support teaching, learning, and research globally, a statement said.

According to Portwood, "For many years now, we have been on a journey of digital transformation, and while demand for the printed formats remains, we expect to see increasing reliance on digital tools and resources across all our core markets."

He added that the new brand supports OUP's activities in those digital formats and "signals how we are reimagining our role, and our intent to continue to evolve in the future, to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers and communities".

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