Sacred Heart University

Sacred Heart University Updates Their Logos and Upgrades Their Style Guide with New Branding from Phoenix Design Works!

Fairfield, CT [January 12, 2025] – Sacred Heart University Pioneers Athletics has launched their new updated branding program and 2025 style guide continuing their ongoing relationship with Phoenix Design Works.

“We are excited to launch our new updated SHU Pioneers Athletics brand with the release of the 2025 edition of our Official SHU Pioneers Athletics Style Guide”, said Deb Chute, Executive Director of Visual Communications, Sacred Heart University. “Amy and Phoenix Design Works were a pleasure to work with; they were attentive to our needs, understood our concerns and goals, and were extremely helpful in both strategic collaboration and technical execution. I have a comfortable level of trust in them as a branding partner, and look forward to having the opportunity to work with them again.”

“Deb and everyone at Sacred Heart have been absolutely wonderful to work with”, said Amy Skiles, Phoenix Design Works SVP Business Development, Client Service. “They are such a smart group, Deb is such a great team leader - We can’t wait to work together again!”

”It truly is an honor to work with Deb and her team at Sacred Heart,” said Jamie Skiles, Phoenix Design Works President & Creative Director. “Sacred Heart remains some of my favorite branding work that we’ve ever done. We’ve developed a great fondness and affection for Sacred Heart over the years - Understanding and genuinely being a fan of SHU makes it natural to want their continued success in all things, and for us, that’s primarily branding. The areas Deb wanted to focus on for the university were editing down to a family of logo marks that best serve SHU, meaning eliminating any redundancies in the program, updating color formulas and usage guidelines, and, perhaps most importantly; develop a global brand initiative to reduce the “footprint” of the legal punctuation within the logo marks, and bring them into the logo wherever possible, to eliminate hanging externally from the logo marks proper, or extending beyond the white safety rules.

I believe we were successful on all three fronts, and honestly, I love this sort of attention being given to the brand every so often; it shows we care about our brand, it shows we’re keeping up with industry standards and making use of them to further the success of our brand, and, it shows that there is someone in charge that is paying attention to the brand and how our constituents interact with our brand, and making pragmatic decisions to ensure the continued success of our brand.
These are the day-to-day decisions that result in good brand practices, that make for a healthy brand. This makes me so happy, and it’s so smart to think this way - This is the kind of attention to branding that I recommend to everyone in charge of branding the world over - This sort of attention to detail can make a huge impact on the health of your brand, and I salute Deb and all our friends at Sacred Heart University for “Thinking Smart”, and “Working Smart”, and for letting us be on your team to think and work smart with you - Many thanks to all!”

Phoenix creates branding & identity programs, advertising & promotion campaigns, and new product development. Phoenix has created comprehensive branding programs for hundreds of America’s best known sports & entertainment properties. Phoenix has created branding programs and style guide manuals for Sacred Heart University Athletics as well as the MAAC Conference and fellow conference members Marist University, Merrimack College and Rider University Athletics.

"Phoenix Design Works was truly a pleasure to work with. Our brand identity project presented some distinct and unique challenges to the Phoenix team, but they overcame each one creatively and professionally. Throughout each step of the design process, they never lost their focus on total client satisfaction, many times going above and beyond what one would normally expect on a project like this. They were flexible, patient and helped us graphically achieve the new brand look we were looking for. Based on the length, scope and challenges inherent in our project, we cannot recommend Phoenix Design Works highly enough."

Mark Adzigian, Assistant Athletic Director, Sacred Heart University

"We worked with Phoenix Design Works when we developed our new athletic family of marks and logos. We have stayed in contact since that time and have appreciated their friendship and expertise. Throughout the design and implementation process we were impressed with the company's thorough research, creative, design, and excellent service after the sale. I highly recommend they be considered for design, graphics and creative work."

Mark Adzigian, Assistant Athletic Director, Sacred Heart University

“Phoenix was proactive and always available throughout the entire process. Creatively, they were responsive to our suggestions and really made our program come to life. Their performance on this project allowed us to add many components we were missing from our previous branding options. Phoenix exhibited tremendous diligence, creativity, flexiblility, and customer service throughout the entire process and were a great pleasure to work with.”

Mark Adzigian, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Licensing & Equipment, Sacred Heart University

“Phoenix Design Works did an unbelievable job with our rebranding project. Taking ‘Big Red’ and turning him into our new athletic mark was nothing short of spectacular! As the scope of the project grew to include the creation of a new Big Red, the Pioneer Club, the Lil Red Youth Club, three families of sport specific marks, and our exclusive font system, their expertise played a vital role in the overall success of the project .”

Joe Del Rossi, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development, Sacred Heart University