Penn State Logo PNG
Pennsylvania State University, also known as Penn State or PSU, is one of the most prestigious universities and educational institutions not only in the United States but in the world. Established in 1855, today the university offers a wide range of programs in various academic disciplines.
Meaning and history
Pennsylvania State University was founded in 1855 as an institute of agriculture. Today it is a leading American university and one of four institutions with unique land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant, and sun-grant university statuses, emphasizing its achievements in the study of space, geology, and oceanology.
Today, Penn State is one of four educational institutions affiliated with the state (along with the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, and Lincoln University), institutions that are not publicly owned or operated under its authority, but have the character of public higher education institutions and receive significant appropriations.
As a public research university, Penn State University is among the top 1 percent of universities in the world. The university offers 275 programs in high-demand areas of study: business, engineering, information technology, programming, and arts.
The alumni include many successful and influential people – Fisher-Price co-founder Herman Fisher, Nike CEO Mark Parker, AMD and Apple engineer Jim Keller, television producer Donald Bellisario, John Aniston, actor and father of Jennifer Aniston, and Hollywood actor Bruce Davison.
What is Penn State?
Penn State is a short name for Pennsylvania State University, which is a public, nonprofit educational institution. PennState is located in the city of University Park. The university is considered one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the United States. In the QS rankings, Penn State is among the most advanced in the arts and humanities, life sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, management, engineering, and technology.
In terms of visual identity, Penn State has been loyal to its mascot, the lion, and a blue and white color palette for decades, although throughout the years the contours became more confident, and the lettering — style on her more stable, same happened to the color scheme.
1980 – 2015
The Penn State logo, created at the beginning of the 1980s has stayed with the university for more than thirty years and was a very recognizable emblem in the educational segment. It was a very elegant combination of a traditional crest with a stylized white Lion on it and a sophisticated inscription in the uppercase of a sharp distinctive typeface. The crest was set in solid blue, with just the Lion and the “1855” datemark on it. As for the inscription, it was usually placed above the crest, with a thin blue separating line between the elements.
2015 – now
The redesign of 2015 has changed a lot in Penn State’s visual identity. Although the logo is still composed of a crest and a wordmark, both elements were modernized and strengthened. The crest became darker, with the Lion completely redrawn. Now it is the lion’s head with no additional elements on the blue background. The animal is set in light-blue and white and depicted facing to the right. As for the inscription part, the name of the university is written in the title case in an extra-bold modern serif font with stable characters written in dark blue.
Athletic Program Logo
The Nittany Lion was chosen as the mascot for the athletic program of Pennsylvania State University in the early 1990s. A Nittany Lion is not a real animal, this is what one could call lions living nearby Mount Nittany. This animal was “invented” by the school’s senior H. D. Mason in 1907. Interestingly enough, by the time the lion was chosen as the school’s emblem, not a single lion had been seen near Mount Nittany for two or three decades.
Because of the fact that the Nittany lion was extinct, Roy Parcels of the Dixon and Parcels agency, which was commissioned to create the Penn State logo, had some problems figuring out what the animal could look like.
None of the first 15 versions created by Parcels seemed to satisfy his clients. The second series of designs, which was presented in about three months, was more successful.
Originally, the name of the teams was placed below the logo, yet in the course of time, it was removed as the logo itself became recognizable even without the text.
Font and color
The heavy and stable lettering from the primary logo of Penn State University is set in a modern geometric serif font, which looks confident and solid. The closest fonts to the one, used in this insignia, are, probably, PMN Caecilia Pro 85 Heavy, or Yorkten Slab Condensed Bold, with some minor refinements of the contours.
As for the color palette of Penn State University’s visual identity, it is based on two shades of blue and white, which is a combination, evoking a sense of professionalism and expertise. Blue also makes the badge look fresh and airy, representing the creative spirit of the University’s students and academic staff.
The two colors seen on the Penn State Nittany Lions logo are navy blue (Pantone 282 C) and white. In addition to them, the hockey mark also features red (Pantone 200 C), while the shield marks of the University itself include three shades of blue: Pantone 287 C and its 30% screen version, as well as light blue (Pantone 284C). The team’s mascot, Nittany Lion, has brown as one of its dominant colors (Pantone 1245 C).
