Brown University is the name of one of the oldest universities in the United States, which was established in 1764. The campus of BU is located in the town of Providence, the state capital of Rhode Island. Brown University has a rich tradition and history and is one of eight members of the prestigious Ivy League.
Brown University, or BU, is one of the oldest universities in the United States, tracing its roots to 1764 when three residents of Newport petitioned the colony’s General Assembly to establish a school for young men. The idea of the school was to teach mathematics, geography, history, and languages. In the same year, the petition was approved, and the school was opened.
The university got its Brown name in 1804. It is related to the philanthropic activity of Nicholas Brown Jr. who regularly made large donations to Rhode Island College. Brown’s funds were used to build such parts of the University as Hope College, Manning Hall, and the Providence Reading Room. The Brown family kept supporting the university financially for many years.
Brown University was the first of the Ivy League universities to develop an engineering training program, and it happened in 1847. In 1969, Brown University students protested to reform the university’s educational program. Henceforth it began to focus not on the traditional and boring teaching of facts, but on the development of thinking skills and analytical abilities of the students. From that time on the student was placed at the center of the educational process, all basic courses were abolished and students became free to make up their program of study.
Today, Brown University is one of the top 50 universities in the world, and of the top 30 educational institutions in the United States.
Among alumni of Brown University, there are a lot of famous people, including Nobel Prize winners, four U.S. Secretaries of State, more than 20 governors of various American states, over 25 U.S. senators, 54 members of the U.S. Congress, 23 Pulitzer Prize winners, and even members of royal families of Jordan, Greece, and Iran.
What is Brown University?
Brown University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the United States, which was established in Rhode Island in 1764. Today BU is among the top50 best universities in the world and the top30 best universities in the USA.
In terms of visual identity, Brown University is very modest and elegant, having its primary logo based on simple lettering in a two-colored palette. The Seal of BU is also pretty laconic and clean, compared to other heraldic crests with lots of details and vignettes.
The primary logo of Brown University features bold white lettering on a dark brown background. The lettering is set in one horizontal line, looking very traditional and moderated. Although, during the last years the university more often uses another version of the badge, composed of the Seal and an uppercase serif “Brown” lettering, set under the seal or on its right. The logo can be seen in two color options: black contouring on a white background, or white lettering on brown.
The BU Seal makes the main part of the University’s visual identity. It features a clean shape with a rounded bottom part and flat top and has a decorative element in white and red placed above it. The white shield in a thin black outline is divided into four segments by a bold red St. George cross. In each of the segments, there is a contoured image of a book, standing for the learning process. Another element of the seal, the sun, is set above the white and red decorative element on top of the composition, and represents the idea of “the rays of the sun of learning piercing the clouds of ignorance”.
The uppercase “Brown” inscription from the logo of one of the most prestigious American universities, is set in an elegant serif typeface, which is very close to such fonts as Adobe Hebrew Regular and Arno Subhead Regular. With sophisticated yet stable letters, set in medium-weight lines with some of them elongated. The serifs are very well balanced, and add delicacy and timelessness to the inscription.
As for the color palette of the Brown University visual identity, it is based on the brown and white combination, with the seal executed in white, red and black. And red here stands for the power of knowledge and the passion for learning and developing.