With the start of the spring semester, the accent colors on the pillars across the student center are beginning to change to fit the IWU brand.
Jason Steiner, the executive director of Brand and Creative, said that the idea for the accent color change came from Dr. Kulaga.
“My direct manager at the time, who was the chief marketing officer, is one that brought it to my attention,” Steiner said. “We were walking through the mallway one day, just talking about other potential projects, and he mentioned, ‘Hey, by the way, Dr. Kulaga would really like to paint all the green metal.’”
Steiner said that as the school is working on rebranding to follow more of the IWU aesthetic. The green pillars were outdated and clashing with the school’s colors.
“For me, it was more about updating the space a little bit aesthetically and kind of neutralizing it a bit, so that if we want to go in later and pick other changes, it won’t clash with that green metal,” Steiner said.
During the late summer, Steiner said that various groups, including facilities, all got together and decided that with the IWU colors, gray was the best option for the space.
“Facilities worked with their vendors and painted two different shades of gray, one darker and one lighter, on some of the pillars because we wanted to see it during different times of the day,” Steiner said.
Steiner said that after a week, the decision for the darker gray was made and facilities painted the pillars during Christmas break.
As students begin to spend more time in the student center, different opinions on the pillar color change have arisen.
Junior Karly Puckett said that she did not notice the pillars at first, but she felt like the green was slightly weird with the other colors in the building.
“I knew that the build of the mallway was to replicate a city, and I felt like the green did match that, but I do feel like the black matches with our school colors better,” Puckett said.
Puckett said that she thinks the new color shows a sense of unity among the campus, and she is hoping to see more changes to show what IWU stands for.
Sophomore Kayley Rowlader said that she does not have an opinion on the new pillar colors.
“I don’t really have an opinion, but I think it still looks nice,” Rowlader said.
Rowlader said that she thinks the pillars still reflect IWU and that she hopes to see more bright colors.
Steiner said that the pillar color change is the first of many to come.
