Spotted availability of cow-print branding
Utah State University was established in 1888 as the Agricultural College of Utah. It wasn’t for nearly 70 years that the name was changed in 1957.
Through the years, the university has frequently paid homage to its agricultural roots, with no bigger example than the nickname “Aggies” for the school’s students and alumni.
On April 1, 2024, Utah State Football announced a new cow-print helmet design on their X page as another homage to its agricultural roots. Much to the dismay of the Aggie fanbase, this was merely an April Fools’ joke.
However, the widespread positive feedback on the idea prompted further discussion. On Aug. 31, 2024, after a previous announcement from the university, the football team took the field for the season-opener donning spotted cow-print helmets.
While the cow-print helmets, and cow-print Aggie merchandise in general, seem to be popular among the fans, the same never-ending love isn’t held by everyone around the university.
“When the first ag thing was announced and the HURD decided that they wanted to incorporate that into a t-shirt, we did run into some problems,” said Ben Burdette, athletics & campus recreation executive director, in an interview with The Utah Statesman. “This year, we didn’t think cow print was going to be a thing because the athletics department hadn’t announced the cow-print helmet … so we didn’t necessarily try anything cow print this year.”
While the HURD wasn’t able to produce shirts or merchandise with cow-print branding either year, the problem was not exclusively due to the cow print itself.
“The main problem was you can’t have a logo on top of another design already and area of isolation,” Burdette said. “So those were the two biggest problems we ran into last year.”
The USU Campus Store displays cow print t-shirts at the front of the store on Aug. 28.
The process for the HURD, or any other club or organization, submitting design approval requests can be a lengthy one. After a design is created, the process starts with a submission through an online portal that will then send it to an involvement adviser for approval. If approved at that point, it will get sent to University Marketing & Communications for final approval.
“[UMAC] has a list of rules and regulations to make sure that all clubs and organizations are representing Utah State the way that it wants to be represented,” Burdette said. “If they think that the design does not follow any of the rules or any of the regulations, they’ll deny the request and send it back to us with feedback.”
Once that feedback is received, UMAC designers will work with clubs or organizations to ensure the proposed designs align with the university brand standards.
The Statesman requested a live interview with the UMAC office but was provided with written answers to questions in an email.
“At Utah State, our visual brand is a significant part of the university’s overall identity. While we are open to suggestions for new brand components, not all proposals effectively represent the university or align with our brand strategy,” Heidi Adams, trademark licensing director, wrote in an email to the Statesman. “Adding a new component is a thoughtful process that brings together input from many different stakeholders from across the university.”
In addition to the approval process for new brand components, cow-print branding and merchandise are only made available at specific times in conjunction with agricultural-themed events.
“The Aggie cow print has been a part of our visual brand for two years. This brand pattern is specifically used to represent Utah State’s rich agricultural heritage,” Adams wrote. “It will only be available in retail when released in conjunction with an event celebrating that tradition.”
While the agricultural-themed events may be limited throughout the year, Burdette and his team are not opposed to future HURD merchandise with cow-print branding.
“It’s always an idea that we have for any of our ag-themed sporting events. I personally love the cow print, and I think it’s fun to play into the agriculture aspect of the university,” Burdette said. “I am definitely on board with anything my team comes up with. As far as cow print, it’s just a matter of, ‘Can we do it in a way where it will get approved?’”