Are Arizona State’s new-look logo and jerseys an improvement?

Arizona State unveiled its university-wide re-branding strategy on Tuesday afternoon complete with a new logo, revamped football and basketball jerseys, and a trendier font.

Matt Hinton offers his thoughts on the Sun Devils' new football jerseys here on Dr. Saturday. Below you'll find my take on the changes that affect Arizona State's basketball program.

1. Unlike most modern collegiate logos born in a Nike or adidas board room, Arizona State's iconic Sparky emblem possessed a memorable back story. Bert Anthony, an Arizona State graduate and former Disney artist, designed the demonic emblem in 1946, some say in Walt Disney's image as retribution for being fired.

Sparky will still remain as Arizona State's mascot, but he's being replaced as the school's iconic logo that graced the Sun Devils' football helmets and midcourt at Wells Fargo Arena. In Sparky's place will be a new stylized pitchfork, the prongs of which represent winning, integrity and scholarship.

Is it an improvement? No. Sparky was iconic. The new pitchfork looks strangely similar to the USB port symbol on a laptop.

2. Whereas in the past Arizona State has employed various block letter and script lettering patterns on its uniforms, hats and T-shirts, the school created a new font which will help to identify the Sun Devil brand. The font is called "Sun Devil bold" and is exclusive to the university.

Is it an improvement? Definitely. The font is modern, attractive and clean. Plus, it will be identifiable with Arizona State the way lettering is at Oregon, USC and other schools.

3. Much like Arizona State's recent basketball history, the Sun Devils' jerseys have always been pretty forgettable. In recent years, they've worn either maroon, gold or white jerseys with clunky Arizona State lettering on the front and dull trim.

Curiously enough, the new basketball jerseys are also pretty ho-hum, though the lettering is much cleaner and the altered color scheme spices things up a bit. Both the Arizona State football and basketball teams will wear the all-black jerseys at least once next season.

Is it an improvement? Yes, but only a mild one. More could have been done to make these jerseys memorable.

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