The Miami University Fencing Club is a group I was involved in during my undergraduate. I worked as the team’s graphic designer to establish a logo that is still used today. The logo needed to clearly represent fencing, and also integrate with Miami University branding to make the team recognizable at competitions and events. We did not use Miami trademarked branding, as it would limit our flexibility in making our own materials or uniform edits, but we maintained the bold, graphic tried of red, white, and black, as well as a classical but commanding serif font that can easily integrate with the official Miami University logo if necessary.
My process consisted mainly of generating appealing logos from the primary imagery of our fencing club: fencing masks, the three weapons of fencing (épée, sabre, and foil), and sometimes feathers or other references to Miami’s mascot, the Redhawk. Below is a series of concepts and ideation to reach the best logo, which was eventually voted on by club members and leaders to finalize.
The final logo integrated a fencing mask and two épées (the club’s primary weapon) within a circle to make the logo easily applied to patches, socks, or stamped onto club photos.