CCIW Unveils New Logo, Carroll Coaches Impressed

NAPERVILLE, IL – College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) is considered one of the premiere Division III athletic conferences in the country, and on Monday the conference -home to Waukesha's Carroll University - unveiled a new logo. The new look was revealed on social media and a website created for the brand announcement.

The logo is scheduled to begin appearing on conference-related materials, uniforms and athletic facilities beginning this school year.

According to the brand website, The CCIW partnered with New Jersey-based Skye Design Studios (SDS), a national leader in sports branding, to develop a modernized look for the conference. The new logo system includes: core, sports-specific and school-specific marks, a designated font family and an updated color scheme in which blue was added to the original black and steel gray palette.

The process of creating the new look began in Nov. 2020, the conference said, as SDS gathered input from CCIW staff, student-athletes, coaches and administrators from all nine schools for the initiative.

The CCIW's new primary mark was designed to convey power and purpose, according to the brand website. A bold horizontal line splits the iconic "CCIW" initials as an abstract tribute to the shared border connecting Illinois and Wisconsin. The conference features two schools in Wisconsin: Carroll and Carthage, and seven schools in Illinois: North Park, North Central, Wheaton, Elmhurst, Augustana, Milliken and Illinois Wesleyan.

"This brand unveiling comes at great time for the conference and its member institutions," said Maureen Harty, the CCIW's executive director. "We just completed our 75th year, and as we come out of this pandemic, it is the perfect opportunity to celebrate a new chapter for the CCIW. It was important to maintain a tie to our rich history while also establishing an exciting and meaningful identity driven by our mission and core values. SDS hit a home run with this project."

Carroll University coaches got a sneak preview of the logo last week, and they were impressed with the final product.

"Wow, that is so cool looking!" Softball coach Amy Gradecki said on a video posted on the athletic department's social media. "The colors really pop, and the letters pop. It's such a well-respected conference and that will really stand out."

Women's soccer coach Susie Foster said the new look is an improvement over the conference's old logo.

"The CCIW has such a rich history and great tradition of excellence, you kind of want (the logo) to pop," Foster said. "Compared to the (old) logo, which was pretty busy and only had one or two colors . . . to add some color and make it stick out . . . simple, streamlined. That's really awesome."