The new design, which will be listed on the Scottish Register of Tartans, articulates clear differentiation from Quinnipiac’s peers while providing the university worldwide recognition and another means to showcase our unique brand identity.

We will host a celebration with hundreds of newly branded notebooks and shirts outside of the School of Law on our North Haven Campus on Wednesday, May 10 for all students, faculty and staff from 9 a.m. to noon — or until all of the merchandise is distributed. Come out and try your luck on our special Plinko board.

“As we considered the elements of our new brand identity, we continued to come back to the idea of connecting our visual identity to what makes Quinnipiac unique,” said Keith Rhodes, vice president of brand strategy and integrated communications.

“Given Quinnipiac’s strong community, ambition and pride, it is a natural fit to use fabric and a pattern as a representative symbol. Though we come from different backgrounds, have different passions and pursue different professions, we come together to weave something both impactful and beautiful. Quinnipiac Plaid was born from this inspiration.” 

Quinnipiac Plaid was designed in collaboration with Pentagram, an internationally recognized and award-winning design consultancy, which also designed Quinnipiac’s new wordmark and other brand identity elements. The new plaid design was more than a year in the making and combines the three university colors — Quinnipiac Navy, York Hill Sky Blue and Bobcat Gold — as well as a touch of gray to provide a modern sensibility and aesthetics. 

“At the outset, we established clear brand identity design pursuits with the interest in advancing on tradition in higher education,” added Eddie Opara, partner at Pentagram New York.

“We determined that the collective elements of Quinnipiac’s brand identity needed to be transformative, international, empowering, prestigious and authentic. Therefore, when Keith approached us with the idea of creating a new tartan plaid for Quinnipiac, we found it to be the perfect complement to such a defining and well-crafted brand identity system. It’s really extraordinary when you think about what it represents.”

The tartan will be emblazoned on a variety of products, including ties, scarves, flags, blankets, umbrellas and T-shirts. It is a nod to the university’s colors and status, and features an industrious design symbolic of the strength and connectivity of #BobcatNation.

The Scottish Register of Tartans was established by an act of the Scottish Parliament in November 2008. Members of the parliament voted to establish a single, independent Scottish register of tartans, which promotes and preserves information about historic and contemporary tartans from Scotland and throughout the world.