Have you ever walked into the Tech Barnes and Noble and noticed how many different colors, particular the numbers of different shades of “gold”, they use to make the Tech apparel? Or how about the overuse of black? It’s a problem Tech should really address, if for no other reason than me not wanting to wearing Tech apparel that looks terrible. In all seriousness, I think it makes it looks like Tech has a branding problem when you can buy a gold hoodie and a gold t-shirt from the bookstore and have two completely different color pieces of clothing. I can’t imagine any large company, say Coca-Cola, having issues with using too many different shades of red and not addressing it. I think by not addressing this issue, it could hurt Tech’s marketability.
The use of different shades of gold is mainly criticized by sports fans, particularly the different uses of it in the football uniforms, which have been horrendous over the past few years. Many older fans would tell you the gold used in the uniforms today is actually the wrong shade of gold, and would tell you the correct shade is the one used in the 2008 uniforms, Paul Johnson’s first year at Tech. I actually thought those uniforms looked hideous.
Personally, I don’t care which shade of gold is used or which one is the correct one; I just think it needs to be standardized, on the football uniforms and apparel. No matter which shade Tech chooses, it will make someone upset. What I believe is the biggest hurdle in standardizing the gold is that not all the apparel is made by the same company. I’m fairly positive that any company making Tech apparel would use the same gold on every product, even though I wouldn’t really be shocked if Russell used multiple golds, the problem is what Adidas uses and what Nike uses may vary.
“When I see “Georgia Tech” on anything, even just some t-shirt, I want it to look like a high quality product…”
In order for Tech to fix the problem, they need to pick the color and if companies aren’t willing to make the apparel using that color, they lose their license to make Tech apparel.
The issue I see with this, is that I’m not sure Tech has the most leverage with the companies making the apparel. If Tech tries to lay down an ultimatum about the proper color, the companies might just quit making Tech apparel altogether. Tech doesn’t have a very large fan base, or student population, so Tech can’t be that big of a player in the apparel market when it comes to revenue. I’m sure there are plenty of other financial obstacles with this method, which I am not aware of, but I believe if they can find a way to standardize the gold it would definitely be worth it.
This is an issue that will hopefully be addressed by Tech in the near future. Even if the reason behind is just to make the Tech apparel you are wearing look better, it is something that needs to be done. When I see “Georgia Tech” on anything, even just some t-shirt, I want it to look like a high quality product reflecting a high quality school.