To our readers:
Last fall we reported that exciting changes were coming to TommieMedia. Well, the time has finally come to share more details regarding our rebranding.
Starting in fall 2024, TommieMedia will officially become “The Crest.”
Student media at the University of St. Thomas has rebranded twice since first being established in 1912. What was originally “The Purple and Gray”, rebranded to “The Aquin” in September of 1933. In 2009, the publication, renamed to “TommieMedia” and transitioned to the web, becoming the first Associated Press-member college newspaper to go all-digital in the United States.
The TommieMedia rebranding process began in September 2022 and since then, staff have spent the first year conducting background research, running surveys and focus groups with alumni and current members to better understand what the future of student media at the University of St. Thomas should look like. September 2023 marked the start of creating a new visual identity under the new name “The Crest”. We sorted through hundreds of ideas before landing on our new logo.
The key element of our new logo is the bright blue wave. With one of the core values established from our research being transparency, water is a vital component to our new identity. The crest of a wave is always dynamic, just like our campus and the media landscape.
This also seemed suitable as it represents the Mississippi River, which is a prominent landmark in the Twin Cities and only a few blocks away from St. Thomas.
We invite you to explore our reimagined brand and join us in this exciting transformation. The new website at TheCrest.News will be launched late summer 2024.
Thank you for your continued support, stay tuned for more news to come.
— Olivia Graupmann, Brand Director; Gillian Farinella, Executive Director; and the entire student media staff.