Original Bulldog Logo Renderings Donated To Ferris State Athletics By Davenport Family
Big Rapids, Mich. - One of Ferris State University's most recognizable images, the school's official Bulldog logo, will soon have a new home as former FSU Athletics Director Dean Davenport and his wife, Joyce, recently donated the original artist renderings of the logo produced by their son to Bulldog Athletics and current Athletics Director Steve Brockelbank.
The renderings will soon be showcased and on display inside the Ewigleben Sports Complex once construction of FSU's new Center for Athletics Performance and the Bulldog Arena is complete.
The logo, which has served as Bulldog Athletics' official mark since 1979, received acclaim as Michigan's "Best Sports Logo" back in 2013 and has represented the university and Bulldog Nation proudly for more than 40 years.
Ferris State's "Bulldog" logo was created in 1979 by FSU alumnus Terry Davenport, who is the son of Dean and Joyce, and later touched up by Ferris State's University Advancement & Marketing team in 2011. It celebrated it's 40th anniversary in the fall of 2019.
To commemorate the 40th year, a special Bulldog anniversary logo has been developed and will appear during football Homecoming festivities next week and at select times over the course of the fall in a variety of areas such as game programs, website, social media, on video boards and more.
Terry Davenport created the logo as a graphic design student at Ferris State back in 1979 while working in the school's sports information office when his father, Dean, was then the school's Athletic Director. He eventually went on to work in a variety of marketing roles with some of the nation's top brands such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Pepsi, Arby's and Starbucks among others.
"It's awesome to see the logo still being used and representing Ferris so well," said Terry Davenport, during the anniversary celebration back in 2019. "The goal was to create a more feisty and determined logo that would stand the test of time and I believe it has done that for so many years."
The Bulldog logo received nearly 50,000 online votes during six rounds of competition back in 2013 to win a week-long online fall poll as Michigan's Best Sports Logo conducted by the Detroit Free Press. The mark was pitted against the state's top high school, collegiate and professional logos with Ferris State's Bulldog emerging on top after beating the Red Wings, Tigers, Lions and more in the competition.
"We're very proud of the logo and it has been neat to see it displayed all over the world with the success we've had, certainly lately on the national level," Dean Davenport said. "There's no better example of the Ferris State hands-on approach to learning than having had a student create the university's official logo and I believe that same approach still applies today."
Dean Davenport served in the Athletic Director position from 1979-93. During his tenure at Ferris, Davenport was instrumental in the planning of the FSU Sports Complex, the growth of women's intercollegiate athletics, the emergence of Ferris' NCAA Division I men's ice hockey program and the development of the athletics scholarship program. He also led the athletics department to 14 consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) President's Cup Championships. Davenport also played a key role in helping found many of the department's key major annual awards, including what is now called the Dean Davenport "Bulldog of the Year" honor that is presented annually to the school's top male and female student-athletes.
The Davenports' were on hand in 2019 when the nation's then second-ranked Bulldog football team faced Central Washington in Ellensburg, not far from Terry's current home in Seattle. They appeared as halftime guests on the Bulldog Sports Network's radio broadcast in addition to recording a video interview and reflected on the 40th anniversary of the logo, which continues to appear on Bulldog apparel, uniforms, helmets and countless other items.
"The primary thing we wanted to accomplish back then was to create something that would stand the test of time and be unique to Ferris," Terry said. "We wanted to make sure our logo was feisty and determined and looked different than the other Bulldog marks out there and represented that fighting spirit. One of the last things we did was put the "F" on the collar and that certainly made it distinctively Ferris State's.
"It was a long time ago and to watch the Bulldog logo continue to show up on a national scale with the success the university has had is outstanding," he added. "It's a thrill to see the Bulldog alive and well and still barking."
Visit this link for a video interview with Terry and Dean Davenport from 2019:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw_ow8RhAnU