The Univ. of North Carolina starting this fall will use "one true Carolina blue" for all of its athletic uniforms "and in all of the athletic department's signage and promotional materials," according to Andrew Carter of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. Finding consistency in colors, lettering and numerals on its different uniforms "was among the primary of objectives" of a rebranding project between UNC and Nike "that began 18 months ago." All 28 UNC varsity teams "will now be wearing the same shade of Carolina blue in their uniforms, which wasn't the case before." The changes include "consistent fonts in lettering and numbering across the uniforms in all sports." There also is "an updated interlocking 'NC' logo, which is the primary logo and one that will be adopted by all sports teams." The argyle pattern "best known for its appearance down the side of UNC's men's basketball uniforms" will be a "'secondary identity' that can be used by all teams." In addition to main colors Carolina blue and white, navy blue, black and metallic silver "will remain secondary colors in all sports." Both UNC AD Bubba Cunningham and Nike Football VP & Creative Dir Todd Van Horne "acknowledged the criticism from traditionalists surrounding the use of black in UNC uniforms -- and in particular the football uniform -- but black will still be used occasionally" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 4/21). In Durham, Brooke Pryor notes UNC's redesign also "brought back the secondary marks in the strutting ram and an official footprint." The school "came to Nike with the idea after members of UNC's athletic department participated in Coca-Cola's KO lab, a forum on branding" in '13. Nike "consulted with coaches, student athletes and athletic administrators to get a feel for the program and what needed to be included in the new look" (Durham HERALD-SUN, 4/21).
