Duquesne will have a new Duquesne Duke mascot to greet athletes and fans when it moves the athletic department into UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse this year.
The university’s athletic department introduced the mascot on its Twitter account.
Behind the design. @changeupinc • #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/NQ95L0KN8N
— Duquesne Athletics (@GoDuquesne) January 13, 2021
The mascot features a lion with a top hat.
“Cool, unique and weird in the best sort of ways,” said Ryan Brazelton, executive creative director at Changeup Inc., the Miamisburg, Ohio, firm that spearheaded the design.
“It gives the students a rallying point to get excited about.”
The mascot complements Duquesne’s logo — the red, italicized D monogram — that was introduced in 2019.
“That became the jumping off point for the rest of our design,” said James Bacon, associate design director at Changeup.
Bacon then went to the lion featured on Duquesne’s academic seal.
“He’s fierce. He’s got natural royalty,” he said. “We thought it provided good bones for the way we want to take the brand forward into the future.”
A closer look at the mascot reveals the eyes are hypercycloids, which are also key elements of the Pittsburgh Steelers iconic logo.
“That is a strong and powerful connector back to Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh athletic programs,” Bacon said.
