November 15, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) — NC State’s Trademark Licensing division is introducing Mr. & Ms. Wuf graphics geared to the age 8 and under set with the goal of providing kid-friendly images of the NC State mascots and a consistent platform that can be translated into a variety of products, including clothing, books, toys and other novelties.
The official registered trademarks of NC State that represent the “wolfpack” team name are the Wolf Head, the Strutting Wolf and the trademark word “Wolfpack.” While these have history and tradition behind them and fit well with students, alum and older fans, the aggressiveness of these trademarks do not lend themselves to younger fans and family members. Also, as they are registered trademarks, alterations to the designs are not allowed.
“Working with over 400 vendors who are licensed to produce NC State branded product can be challenging, especially when there is a void in graphic offerings for the youth market,” said Gregg Zarnstorff, director of Trademark Licensing at NC State. ” Many licensee’s try to produce their own rendering of what should represent the Wolfpack, with a varying degree of success. This leads to a hodgepodge of unrelated designs in the market which makes it hard to create a consistency in branding efforts.”
The new “Wufs” will debut in a coloring book available November 19 at Carter-Finley and the NC State Bookstore.
“The NC State Bookstore is using a state-of-the-art print-on-demand service through our Wolf Xpress Print & Copy Service on campus to print the books, which gives us the ability in the future to print custom coloring versions for youth-oriented programs sponsored by University departments, groups and colleges,” added Zarnstorff.
The Trademark Licensing office and the License Resource Group enlisted “The Balloon Boys”–NC State College of Design Seniors Joe Lawson, Jordan Deva, and Justin T. Phillips–to develop the marks after seeing their handiwork on a 20,000-square-foot mural project, the Fantastic Sky Race, in downtown Raleigh
“We immediately thought that it could be an ideal fit, given the timelines, their proximity, the quality of their illustration and the opportunity to showcase talent developed in the College of Design,” said Zarnstorff. “We contacted the students to see if they had any interest in creating youth graphics, and they were.”
For more information about Trademark Licensing, visit http://web.ncsu.edu/trademarks. To learn more about the NC State Bookstore, visit www.ncsu.edu/bookstore. To learn more about Wolf Xpress Print & Copy Services and the Espresso Book Machine, visit go.ncsu.edu/wolfxpress.