3 minute read
What the Devil
After more than 50 years, the Poly Blue Devil mascot gets a refresh.
Atthe 2021 Homecoming, Martin Kafina ’71 recalled for fellow 50th Reunion celebrants how in January of 1968 Poly students held a contest to pick a school mascot to boost athletics. A committee came up with ideas and took suggestions from the students, who then voted in their homerooms. Kafina’s suggestion of a Blue Devil got the most votes and he won Knicks tickets. Poly had a new nickname and shortly thereafter, a new student-created design.
“It’s unusual for a mascot design to remain unchanged for more than 50 years,” said Jennifer Slomack, Poly’s Director of Engagement & Communications. “Normally, a mascot is refined or refreshed so that it evolves along with the institution and the times.” She added, “the Poly of 1968 is very different from the Poly of 2021. The original devil design predates the enrollment of girls, the addition of seven Lower School grades, and communicating through social media and other digital platforms. We were overdue for purposeful discussions and a thoughtful refresh.”
Slomack led the internal committee and worked with the brand agency, Fancy NYC, and award-winning illustrator and cartoonist Ken Niimura, in a process that spanned four months—from the first creative brief to an entire new sub-brand around the devil. “It’s not just one design,” Slomack said. There are now multiple marks, logotypes, graphic elements, and spaces for customization that students can use to visualize their Poly Blue Devil activities, including a sidekick created for Lower School. “For a long time, the mascot was used mainly for athletics, but the new design system was created to serve Poly stories across all divisions and disciplines,” she said. “Every Poly student is a Blue Devil.”
“As an alumnus, I am nostalgic for Poly's traditions so I was initially hesitant when asked to be on the committee for the Blue Devil logo redesign. The goal of the redesign was to create a modern and flexible Blue Devil logo which reflects Poly's identity today—diversity, excellence, and Brooklyn. I think the new design delivers and I hope that the Poly community will rally around it.”
—QADIR FORBES ’11, PRESIDENT OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS
MEET THE ARTIST
Ken Niimura
Amid the excitement of Homecoming 2021, was the unveiling of the much anticipated new Poly Blue Devil design. When Poly decided to update the mascot’s more than 50-year-old design, it was ultimately international award-winning illustrator, Ken Niimura, who was chosen. Niimura, a Spanish-Japanese illustrator and writer, lives and works in Japan and Europe. He has several acclaimed works including Umami, Henshin, Never Open It, and I Kill Giants which won several prestigious awards and was adapted into a 2019 film starring Zoe Saldana.
“I love doing illustration work in between these longer books,” Niimura explained, “as it’s a nice small challenge every time, and it allows me to collaborate with people and places I normally wouldn’t.” For the updated Blue Devil designs, Niimura said, “I want them to be two characters all students can identify with. I like that the school’s motto is ‘virtue is the victor over fate,’ and that the mascots, which represent the students, are a couple of small devils. It does correspond more with my memories of what going to school was like, more on the playful side.”
Niimura said the project was a challenge, “but I’ve enjoyed every step of the process,” he added, “and was especially happy about the feedback I got from the school, which helped and encouraged me at every stage of the process. I would have maybe tended to do something similar to what I’ve done in the past otherwise, but all of this feedback has pushed me to go into uncharted territories. Exciting!”
