New Athletic Branding Announced

There is a new Husky in town.

When New Hampton School began to explore the possibility of firming up its athletic identity last summer, the school sent its existing husky logo to a respected design firm that specializes in athletic branding. The firm quickly declared that it could not work with the logo. School administrators were surprised to hear that the logo resembled too closely the copyrighted husky logo of the University of Washington.

Three months later and after extensive work with Rickabaugh Graphics of Columbus, Ohio, NHS Director of Athletics Jamie Arsenault unveiled the new art at School Meeting on Monday. Not only is the Husky logo new, but Rickabaugh also created a new athletic lettering, a monogram, and a paw for use on all New Hampton School athletic gear and for official apparel and items in the Campus Store.

“We are really excited to have this new look for our Husky,” says Head of School Andrew Menke. “We’ve been considering this project for a while now. We’ve made huge steps forward with our school branding, and our athletic branding was the next logical step.”

The final design was the product of extensive meetings of the athletic identity task force and feedback from faculty and students. The task force reviewed a number of options for the new husky, and after careful consideration, selected the new logo.

“We wanted to create an identity that stands out, so when people see the Husky, they’ll say ‘that’s the New Hampton School Husky.’ We wanted to find a husky we could call our own and stay with it for a long time, and I think we got it,” says Arsenault, who is in his 14th year at NHS.

The design company embraced the task force’s call for a modern look that celebrated the tradition of the school and a storied athletic program. 

“Everyone at Rickabaugh Graphics was honored to be a part of creating the new look for the New Hampton Huskies,” says Eric Rickabuagh, who has worked with hundreds of colleges and universities including Providence College, Boise State, Ohio State, and Mississippi on their athletic branding. “The new Husky symbolizes exactly what the New Hampton teams represent...pride, determination and intensity.”

Director of Communications Will McCulloch thinks the new branding has a timeless look to it and will bring a consistency and unity to the school.

“If you walk around campus on a given day you will see student wearing athletic gear with varying iterations of the husky and vastly different font treatments of ‘New Hampton,’ depending on the sport,” says McCulloch, who helped lead the effort with Arsenault. “We wanted every piece of practice gear and the graphics on the wall of our gym to have the same branding.”

New Hampton School students and faculty responded positively to the new look.

“It’s original and it gives us an identity,” says Carter Trent ’11, a men’s basketball player from Little Rock, Arkansas. “I like the green lightning bolt and the perked up ears. It makes it look like the husky is on the prowl.”

Apparel with new athletic branding will begin to arrive in the Campus Store in the coming weeks. For more information about purchasing New Hampton School products, please contact the Campus Store at 603-677-3461 or email Director of Purchasing and Retail Sales Erica Willingham at ewillingham@newhampton.org.