By Josh Bootsma
LANSING, Ill. (June 29, 2022) – The TF South Red Wolves now have a logo to their name. The release of the logo, which features a wolf’s head and claw marks in the school’s red and gray color scheme, comes after the “Red Wolves” name was approved at a school board meeting in April.
The release of the logo is the next step in a rebranding of the Lansing high school’s mascot and nickname that has been years in the making. After students expressed dissatisfaction with the longstanding “Rebels” nickname, in August of 2020 the District 215 Board of Trustees voted unanimously to dissolve the name. The vote started a student-driven process of choosing a new nickname that ended in April.
Creating the logo
TF South Principal Jacob Gourley said students presented logo concepts when they came before the district board with nickname options.
“[Students] made a slide with 10 different logo suggestions, and I think what Trevell did was merge those suggestions in the final product,” he said.
Designer Trevell Southall of TS Design Studio was tasked with designing TF South’s new logo. Southall was connected to TF South after he designed the logo for Lavish Cosmetology and Barbering Studio at TF North, which opened in March.
“What’s great about [getting the students involved] is that you get into the mind of the young people, what’s going to get them motivated and happy,” Southall said. “One of the things a lot of them presented was the claws. I thought that was unique. … I saw a lot of energy in their descriptions.”
Southall said he knew his logo needed to be “cool,” but also be capable of building school pride. An overly fierce-looking wolf, for example, might look appropriate on a sports jersey, but may not be a good fit for marketing materials or a welcome packet.
To achieve this balance, Southall said he referenced some Disney images of dogs and wolves to impact his design.
“If you look at the logo, you can see the wolf is growling, but I didn’t put the details in the teeth. That softened it up, and that made it a young wolf, which makes it less intimidating,” Southall said. “It’s a wolf but it’s still fun and cool.”
In addition to the claw marks and wolf face, Southall incorporated the TF South crest, which includes a shield.
“He integrated a nod to the school crest,” Gourley said. “That was his [idea]. He did that on his own and I thought it looked cool. Hats off to him for doing his background research.”
Incorporating the new logo
Gourley said though plans are already in place to put the logo on the gym floor as soon as possible, the school-wide rollout may take some time.
“In anticipation that this was going to happen at some point, in recent years when we would order uniforms, we just put ‘TF South’ on them,” Gourley said. “We don’t have the resources to buy every uniform for every single sport for fall. So it’ll take probably a two- to three-year cycle of replacing inventory of athletic uniforms. But as far as activities, and spirit and booster club, I would anticipate a pretty quick rollout.”
Gourley said an all-school assembly is being planned for the first day of school to “pretty loudly” unveil the new logo on the gym floor.
“I think this will help give a sense of unity and identity to the school. We’ve gone two years as ‘TF South High School,'” Gourley said.
TF South is located at 18500 Burnham Avenue in Lansing.
Related
- It’s official – TF South’s nickname is now ‘Red Wolves’ (April 28, 2022)
- D215’s Lavish Cosmetology and Barber Studio celebrates grand opening (March 19, 2022)
- District 215 Board votes to dissolve TF South “Rebels” Nickname (August 26, 2020)