Dixie Technical College re-establishes identity with new branding

Students experience hands-on learning in skilled trades at Dixie Technical College, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Dixie Technical College, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Dixie Technical College launched its own rebrand last week, beginning with its revamped logo, color scheme and website.

View of Dixie Technical College’s new website, St. George, Utah, Aug. 10, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Dixie Technical College, St. George News

This fall, the technical college will continue its brand rollout by hosting a billboard over Interstate 15, across from Red Cliffs Mall, as well as by playing advertisements before every movie in local theaters.

Dan Deceuster, Dixie Tech’s director of marketing, explained the rebranding’s purpose and reasoning. He took up his position at Dixie Technical College around the same time as Utah Tech University’s name change and said is mind quickly focused on establishing Dixie Tech’s identity in the public eye.

“People think ‘rebrand’ means changing the name, changing the logo, changing everything. We’re not changing everything. We’re still Dixie Technical College – that hasn’t changed,” he said. “We want people to know who we are, what we do and where we are. We’re going to do that in a very respectful way and not take anything away from who Utah Tech is and what they’re doing.”

Deceuster clarified that Utah Tech University should be thought of as a polytechnic university, rather than a technical college. As a polytechnic university, Utah Tech provides two- and four-year diploma programs in traditional university majors and career and technical education programs.

“Obviously, their name includes ‘Tech,’ like ours, and they added Navy blue as one of their primary colors, and Navy blue had been our primary color in the past. It’s just very easy to confuse people, so priority number one was not a full overhaul of our brand, but an emphasis to show we’re different from Utah Tech and not one and the same.”

View of Dixie Technical College, St. George, Utah, March 28, 2018 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Dissimilar to Utah Tech, he said, Dixie Technical College provides certifications and streamlined job experience, not degrees or a traditional university experience.

“We educate quickly in whatever field we offer,” he said. “We only do the essential curricula for a particular job or skill and send students on their way.”

This focus on propelling students into their chosen job field is a major part of Dixie Tech’s brand, and it shows in the logo. Deceuster emphasized the symbolism of the logo’s ‘X’.

“It’s got the ‘greater than’ symbol highlighted (on the left), meaning people can come here for greater careers, and the arrow is pointing forward, to the right. We advance people forward.”

Dixie Tech’s primary color is now a dark turquoise with occasional Navy-blue accents. 

“I think color is a very defining characteristic in the identity of a college,” Deceuster said. “We’re really focused on the identity of the college being associated with this dark-turquoise blue. It’ll be a part of all our external marketing. This is the color of the college.”

The technical college’s website also has radically changed, both in design and functionality.

“The old website had big, clunky navigation, and it was overwhelming getting from page to page,” Deceuster said. “Now, we really embrace minimalism. It’s clean and simple, and we wanted our design to visually represent that focus. We embrace minimalism in the way we visually represent ourselves.”

Apart from the digital aspects of rebranding on Dixie Tech’s website, the physical side of changing the logo will take some time, Deceuster said.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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