A new, refreshed brand has been unveiled for the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The recently launched visual identity system reflects the dynamic growth, commitment to excellence and bold vision for UAB’s future.

“We began introducing our updated brand this past fall and continue to build upon that excitement over the next year as we implement the final steps of the phased rollout,” said Chief Digital Strategy and Marketing Officer Rosie O’Beirne. “The UAB community and beyond play a vital role in helping us shape the brand that is more than a logo. The new visual identity system is how we present UAB to the world.”

After extensive research and engagement with students, faculty, staff, alumni, patients and other stakeholders, specific challenges and opportunities were identified to improve the UAB brand’s clarity, consistency and impact.

“UAB continues to make unprecedented strides in all parts of our mission, and our dynamic growth and success is reflected in our refreshed branding,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. “Having a unified brand for the first time in our history will bring stronger brand recognition, enhance our recruitment of students and employees, and help raise greater awareness of our efforts and our impact locally and globally.”

The experiences of UAB’s students, alumni, employees, patients, donors, athletic boosters and supporters shape its identity across the state and nation in authentic and meaningful ways. The visual identity is a key element of how the institution communicates its values, mission and pride.

Key changes in UAB’s new identity

UAB has shifted to a branded house model. For the first time in our history, UAB shares a primary monogram that will be used across the enterprise, including the university, UAB Medicine and Athletics.

Refreshed monogram

The monogram now features a cleaner design with spaced lettering for improved legibility and recognition, particularly for outside stakeholders. In this brand refresh, the monogram may be used on its own in special use cases or be presented as a lockup with the words “The University of Alabama at Birmingham,” which was previously the only option. This new flexibility will help increase regional and national brand recognition.

“After the research phase of the brand refresh, we learned that people unfamiliar with our brand identified the legacy logo as ‘U4B’ instead of ‘UAB,’” O’Beirne said. “The new logo clarifies the ‘A’ and really allows our institution to have a stronger branding presence.”

Refreshed color palette

The brand refresh reestablishes UAB’s official colors as green and gold. The updated color palette features a richer, darker green and a brighter gold, which is also offered in metallic gold options.

“We looked at everything from web accessibility to expanding availability of apparel and branded merchandise,” O’Beirne said. “It is important to bring the core brand together in a way that is flexible and usable across the institution. The new monogram and color palette allow for this flexibility.”

Brand font

The new UAB brand font, Aktiv Grotesk, is a modern sans-serif font that enhances readability and brings a contemporary look to UAB’s communications. Title case was adopted in the primary logo lockup, instead of all uppercase letters, further increasing readability, accessibility and improved visual appeal for the long university name.

Unifying entities across the UAB Medicine brand

The UAB Medicine brand unites the institution’s medical education, research and clinical care mission under a single, powerful visual identity. The UAB Medicine brand will now encompass all aspects of UAB’s academic medical center, including the UAB Health System and the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine and its departments, centers, institutes and programs.

“Unifying our work and streamlining our message strengthen our voice, foster clarity and reinforce our impact for those we serve,” O’Beirne said. “More than just a name, it represents our commitment to innovation, excellence and collaboration across a complex organization.”

By creating a strong connection between the research, Heersink School of Medicine and the clinical enterprise, the UAB Medicine brand solidifies UAB’s position as a premier academic medical center. UAB Medicine is a unified brand that will share the same primary colors and fonts with the university and athletics.

Showing school pride through athletics, Blaze and spirit marks

The new UAB Athletics logo features a strong gold outline that distinguishes it from the university and UAB Medicine logos. Blaze will continue to be highly visible as the secondary logo for Athletics, as well as a university-wide spirit mark.

“Gold has long been a signature color for UAB Athletics, and Blaze is loved across the UAB community,” O’Beirne said. “Our community now has several options to showcase our signature colors and Blaze.”

Minor changes were made to enhance Blaze, including transitioning to the brighter color palette. Small elements were changed to improve representation in print materials and merchandise, and updating his dragon features, including teeth and ears. Blaze will continue to be prominently used as a secondary logo for UAB Athletics and will also be available to the entire UAB community as a spirit mark.

In addition, a new collection of university-wide spirit marks has been introduced, some of which incorporate Blaze. This provides flexibility in merchandise and broader use across the enterprise.

Former logos will be transitioned to legacy logos. The full UAB brand toolkit is available here. The brand refresh is a yearlong process, and the full transition of physical signage to the new marks is expected to take several years. Brand education workshops and trainings will be offered through UAB’s Office of Marketing and Communications.