Adelaide University merger officially launched at Adelaide Convention Centre

The contentious merger of SA’s two biggest universities has officially launched in front of 3000 staff, with mixed opinions over the new logo. Tell us what you think.

Hotly anticipated branding for the new Adelaide University – a merger of the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia – has been revealed, with a global marketing company behind the new logo.

But, hours before it was unveiled to the institutions’ 3000 staff on Monday, the logo and website for the new Adelaide University was spotted on a West Tce billboard in an apparent bungle.

The new university and its branding was formally launched by vice chancellors of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia Peter Hoj and David Lloyd at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

As of 9.30am on Monday, the website listed on the billboard, adelaideuni.edu.au, was not yet live and showed only a holding page.

By midday, the website had officially come online.

“You can’t control everything, we’re going to let that through to the keeper and it doesn’t impact what we’ve achieved today,” Prof Lloyd said of the bungle.

Branding for the new Adelaide University has been revealed. Picture: Instagram/Henry Davis

The new branding was designed in partnership with international marketing gurus Lippincott, which has recently had a hand in new branding for global companies Nokia and Starbucks.

Adelaide-based agency Fuller Communications also had a hand in brand strategy and visual brand elements, including the logo, while research agency Fiftyfive5 undertook market testing — including consultation with current students.

University officials declined to reveal how much the new branding cost, which industry insiders estimate could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but said the investment was “appropriate for the scale, complexity, speed and importance of the project”.

“(This) was about far more than logo design. It also included developing the brand strategy and a brand framework to allow the Adelaide University brand to engage powerfully and consistently across a wide range of executions,” an Adelaide University spokesperson said.

“As expected for this type of project, there was extensive consultation over several months.”

The logo is tilted forward to convey momentum, echoing the angles of the Adelaide Festival Centre, with trademarked ‘North Terrace Purple’ colouring part of the branding, said to represent optimism.

The branding drew mixed responses from university academics, while a number of marketing companies contacted by The Advertiser declined to comment on the new design.

University of Adelaide associate professor Janice Loftus said the meaning behind the new logo “wasn’t immediately obvious”.

“Perhaps the general public might need a hint of what it might symbolise,” she said.

“After it was explained to me I could make sense of it.”

She also expressed “reservations” about the merger itself.

“I have my reservations about the challenges of managing something that large without it being overly bureaucratic,” she said.

UniSA Professor Simon Leonard was immediately impressed by the new branding.

“The designers have managed to grab something of the two existing institutions,” Prof Leonard said.

He said the merger would provide “more opportunity” and that “scale is useful” for universities.

Adelaide University has promised a “future focused identity” with an initial suite of about 200 coursework programs covering all major disciplines currently available at both institutions.

The vice chancellors said it will offer 300 programs when it opens in 2026.

The new institution’s brand was described as a “bold visual identity”, which Prof Hoj and Prof Lloyd said conveyed a “cutting-edge institution”.

“I thought the enthusiasm in the room was more than we could have hoped for,” Prof Hoj said following the launch.

“There will be people coming out saying I don’t like this, it’s too modern, it’s too far away from what I would’ve liked but I think it went pretty well.”

Prof Hoj and Prof Lloyd said an Aboriginal name for the institution was included in its founding legislation — an Australian first — and would be unveiled “in due course”.

Adelaide University branding and logo launch at the Adelaide Convention Centre. Picture: Supplied

The new set of programs on the institution’s website particularly aligned with international student interest, they said, with further programs to be released ahead of local applications opening in August 2025.

Expressions of interest are currently open for international students with the university targeting markets in countries such as China, India, Kenya and Vietnam.

These will include domestic offerings, regional study options and research degrees.

The institutional leaders said the university would aim to be in the top five nationally for student experience, with a unique curriculum to cater to learners from all backgrounds.

Acting Premier Susan Close said the new university would be “more than the sum of its two parts”.

“It will transform education, research and innovation outcomes in our state and will boost economic opportunities,” Dr Close said.

By 2034, Adelaide University is expected to bring in an estimated additional $500m per year for the South Australian economy, educate more than 70,000 students and create an additional 1200 jobs.

The unprecedented deal to explore the possibility of a merger between the two universities was inked in late 2022.

By July last year, following a feasibility study, the new institution was given the green light.

Both the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia have committed to no compulsory redundancies or retrenchments because of the new university ahead of its expected January 2026 opening, or for 18 months after that.