Good morning Uni Watchers! I hope everyone had a pleasant Wednesday.
Today I’m again joined by KC Smurthwaite who was instrumental in setting up the UW/University of Hawai’i Uniform Design Contest (and it looks like we will be announcing a new design contest next week!). In addition, KC has also given us an insider look at the world of uniform design in a series of posts, Our Jerseys %#!*& Suck, Come At Me, Brand Police: Athletics and Academia, Don’t Look Behind the Curtain and Spatting, Branding and Kevin Durant.
KC returns today with another look behind the curtain, so to speak, with the University of South Carolina Upstate. Enjoy!
USC Upstate introduces a brand-new logo and identity system
by KC Smurthwaite
Last week, USC Upstate introduced a brand-new logo and identity system—one that moves beyond a simple update to embrace a broader purpose: distinction.
Upstate, which has undergone significant transitions since 2004—including changing its nickname from the Rifles to the Spartans and making the significant leap from NAIA competition to Division I athletics—has now unveiled a new Spartan head logo. This mark is designed to strengthen the identity of USC Upstate’s Spartan brand, setting it apart from Spartans in places like East Lansing or San Jose.
(There’s even rumors floating around the department that a team got a meal paid for because they thought they were Michigan State student-athletes!)
As college athletics become increasingly competitive and brand-driven, USC Upstate’s rebrand reflects more than visual change. It represents a strategic turning point in how the institution sees itself—and how it wants to be seen. With a Spartan at its core and a visual nod to South Carolina’s shape, this mark is as much about location as it is legacy.
The former logo—featuring a stylized Spartan helmet—was familiar but problematic. It closely resembled icons from other Division I programs, particularly Michigan State and San José State. While the Spartan identity has deep ties to Spartanburg, the visual execution lacked uniqueness.
“You’d see our gear and people would ask if it was Michigan State,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Matt Martin said. “Or they’d mistake us for San José State. When that keeps happening, you realize it’s not just a design issue—it’s a brand clarity issue.”
The new logo addresses that directly. It reimagines the Spartan not as a generic figure but as one built from the ground up to represent USC Upstate. The lines are sharper. The angles more intentional. And within the silhouette, the outline of South Carolina is subtly embedded—rooting the identity in place as much as in persona.
“This isn’t just about being the Spartans—it’s about being these Spartans,” Martin said. “Our university is in Spartanburg. Our story is in South Carolina. This new identity respects the past but clearly points to where we’re going.”
The brand rollout arrives during a period of real momentum. In recent years, USC Upstate teams have notched multiple Big South Conference championships and NCAA postseason appearances. With that visibility comes an urgent need to examine and own the part.
Martin’s previous roles at Idaho, South Dakota, Winthrop, and Concordia-Portland (where he was an athletic director) were in external facing roles, including licensing and branding. He believes that branding is a key to the gate of the department.
“This logo won’t win games, but it will open doors,” he said. “It’ll help with recruiting, with marketing, and even in the licensing world. It signals we’re serious. We’re investing in who we are and how we’re showing up.”
The new mark is part of a broader visual system, including refreshed typography and a color palette designed for versatility across print, digital, merchandise, and facilities. Every line, every curve, is crafted to build a brand that can scale—with purpose.
“This is about clarity,” Martin said. “When people see this logo, we want them to know that’s Upstate. Not Michigan State. Not San José State. Us. That’s who we are.”
The rollout is in motion at USC Upstate, with new banners going up around campus and the previous branding gradually phased out throughout 2023—a process Martin said began quietly behind the scenes. By summer 2026, the new Spartan mark is expected to be fully visible across campus and in retail spaces.
This moment isn’t just about what’s new—it’s about what’s next.
“We’re not just playing Division I sports. We’re building a Division I brand,” Martin said. “This new identity helps us do that with clarity, confidence, and distinction.”
“Just being ‘the Spartans’ is pretty generic, but then you realize our university is in Spartanburg—which even that name has more history in terms of ‘Spartans’—and it all comes together,” Martin said. “We needed to build some differentiation and even a separate identity for ourselves, and this I think helps us fulfill that.”
The timing is intentional. USC Upstate has enjoyed a resurgence across several sports, with multiple Big South Conference championships and NCAA postseason appearances this past year. Now, it’s not just what the Spartans are doing—it’s how they’re presenting it.
“This isn’t just a logo. It’s a signal to our student-athletes, our recruits, our fans, and our partners: we know who we are, and we’re serious about where we’re going,” Martin said. “We’re building a Division I brand with staying power.”
Readers? Thoughts?
Way too much marketing-speak. There’s an interesting story about why and how the logo was changed, but it gets lost in all the “This moment isn’t just about what’s new—it’s about what’s next.”
Scott, I agree completely. And I’ll just leave it at that.
GTGFTS: Game 7 1967 WS, Oct 12 at Fenway. STL 7 Bo-Sox 2. Yaz is watching Julian Javier’s 6th inning HR clear the Monster.
Spartan? The first thing I saw was the profile of a little bird looking to the left.
I see a Toronto Blue Jays logo. While that crescent is a nod to the flag, it resembles an eye
Same, it took my a while to read it as a spartan. Looks like a derpy bird
The first thing on the logo that drew my eye was the green part, so I recognized it as a helmet immediately. I didn’t even think of a bird until reading the comments, but now I can’t unsee it.
Same. A little bird with a Mohawk looking up to the left.
Goddamnit. Now I can’t unsee the bird…
It’s also got a hammer-and-sickle thing going with the green
Well shit, I can’t unsee that now. lol
A bird? No way. This looks like a spartan from first glance.
Looks like an elf carrying an odd shaped football to me.
GTGFTU: Dec 12, 1976 at the Big Sombrero. Pats 31, Bucs 14, capping off the inglorious inaugural 0-14 season for the Bucs.
The orange numbers on the Bucs’ unis are a dead giveaway, since they switched to red for better visibility in 1977.
It was also the end of those white socks, went to Orange in 1977
You got it John, also the last game they wore those light orange numbers
It’s a nice looking Spartan logo, and the crescent moon is a nice touch. I would never see the SC state outline if it weren’t pointed out. In fact, it was pointed out and I still don’t really see it.
I needed the little picture where the outline was shown in red because I was thinking the entire Spartan helmet was supposed to be the SC shape. But after that I can see it.
Yeah, that state outline thing is really a stretch. And I immediately thought this was a bird logo. I had to stare at it a while to make out a Spartan because his head is bowed. Why would you make a Spartan bowing his head? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be mean, but none of this works. It’s an overthought mess.
If the intention was to distance themselves from Michigan State, I think they missed the mark.
It’s a green and white spartan helmet profile facing to the right. The new logo is now almost more similar to Michigan State than the old one. The old logo looked more like San Jose State.
It’s a brighter green than Michigan State and it has a sizable portion of black. I can recognize it as “not-Michigan State” but it doesn’t suggest “USC Upstate.” Their primary logo accomplishes that.
I dont disagree with you and I don’t think anyone on Uni-watch would make the mistake.
But the school itself said their intention was to not get confused with Michigan State. I think this logo is closer to MSU than the original logo
“We are in Spartanburg.”
So the university renamed itself from USC-Spartanburg to USC-Upstate.
Seems contradictory.
totally agree.
Just noticed on the “U Upstate” logo – the oblique angle of the big U is not the same as the angle of the “Upstate”. It’s slightly off, just enough to trigger my OCD, and I hate it!
USC-Upstate was originally USC-Spartanburg, and the mascot was “Rifles,” named after a Revolutonary war militia, the Spartan Rifles. If they wanted to not be confused with Michigan State, perhaps they should have kept the unique name of “Rifles” instead of the often used moniker of “Spartans.”
They really should have dropped the “USC” and just went with “Upstate”. Are they in Upstate California? The Trojans. No one else goes by “Upstate” so the should just own it. Also, the Combination of the New logo and the wordmark is an afterthought.
USC-Upstate outline of the state of South Carolina. Now that’s comedy!
In 2004 Michigan State was an absolute powerhouse in NCAA basketball. To rebrand as the Spartans while keeping the Green, black, and white color scheme seems like it had to have been an intentional choice. An entire University rebrand is extremely expensive, and has multiple focus groups, surely somebody brought up the similarities during those sessions.
As pointed out above, there’s a secret Derpy Bird in the logo more easily found than the outline of South Carolina, BUT a Google image search of USC Upstate also brings up a cool logo of a building that looks like….a Robot Duck!
link
How many prominent schools are they trying to get confused with? USC to most is University of Southern California, plus Trojans and Spartans are pretty similar in iconography. But the most egregious appropriation is using the name Spartans and using green, white and black. I can’t imagine Michigan State seeing this and having a few questions.
I know that the pool of mascot choices isn’t infinite and there are many schools who share mascots, two Tigers in the SEC, two Wildcats in the Big XII… Embrace the “Upstate”, it’s different and unique because the rest of their identity seems lazy and borrowed, very high-school’esque.
The whole big U with Upstate inside feels very 1998-ish. That shoulda been updated too.
Yeah…. I see a little birdie…
I have no idea about this school, nor am I interested in them.
Thought they were in Upstate New York.
Oh, the storytelling.
Green Spartans? yeah, they are riding on MSUs coattails.
Yeah, I don’t know about all this. A good brand design shouldn’t need all of the marketingspeak for it to make sense. It should stand on its own.
The state outline should have been prominent enough to be one of the first things you see, not a hidden Easter egg. I don’t think most people would know it’s there without being shown and told about it.
The helmet looks pretty cool, but the heavily reinforced faceplate design with the “faceplate fastener” seems more derivative from the animated 300 movie than anything. They almost had to do something like that to deviate from Sparty’s classic green/white Corinthian, but it seems a bit too fanciful.
More broadly speaking, and although it’s beyond the purview of the designers, Laconophilia is inherently ridiculous.
It’s giving “off-brand t shirt shop in East Lansing trying to avoid paying royalties”
Michigan State Alum here.
About 15 years ago MSU did a brand revitalization to bring all the “greens’ used by the school in line as different uniform/equipment manufacturers had caused some things to no longer match – football helmet and jersey being the prime example.
At the same time, they introduced a new font (both letter and numbers) for all teams. They also attempted to change the Spartan helmet logo but the response to that change was so overwhelmingly negative that it was shelved.
link
The proposed logo reminded many of an elephant with wings carrying a snake on its back if they were charitable or an elephant with an overdeveloped “appendage” if they were not.
SJSU’s use of the “Spartans” dates to 1922 and predates its use in East Lansing by about 3 years (MSU was known as the Aggies (as Michigan Agricultural College) prior to this). However, MSU has used the color green for its sports program since the 19th century. Being that both MSU and SJSU were small regional schools dedicated mainly to specific studies (Agriculture and Teaching respectively), it makes sense that they would share the mascot, as media was more regional at the time and they probably didn’t interact that much.
I am less inclined than others who have posted here to infer nefarious intent on the initial rebrand to the Spartans by USC-U in 2004. Their athletic teams had worn green for the majority (if not all) of their existence and there was a move by athletic teams to “rebrand” from mascots that embraced firearms (Bullets to Wizards for example). They are located in Spartanburg and perhaps wanted to keep that clear even as they rebranded to better reflect the regional community they serve.
If anyone who doesn’t follow college athletics had “confused” the two schools athletics teams prior to this change – I don’t think they will anymore even if both Spartans feature green.