For nearly a decade, Orange Umbrella, often called “OU,” has been the University of Miami’s hub for student creativity and collaboration. Now, the student-run advertising agency is stepping into a new chapter with a new logo — one that better redefines their mission, vision and values.
The new logo is sleek and modern, representing a fusion of OU’s initials — an “O” and “U” — cleverly shaped to also resemble the canopy of an umbrella.
“If you look closely, you’ll notice the top of the ‘O’ forms a more modern, contemporary top part of an umbrella,” Ian Mavorah, OU’s managing director said. “It’s italicized to show forward momentum, which is our North Star.”
The new logo intentionally uses two shades of orange to reflect OU’s values. Mavorah feels as though OU “really owns” the color orange as it represents enthusiasm, boldness and creativity — qualities that he feels the whole team embodies.
Wesley Lucas, OU’s creative team lead and senior creative advertising major is responsible for the final logo design.
OU began in 2017 and is a student-run, professionally-led advertising agency within the School of Communication. The agency turns classroom hustle into real-world muscle, working with more than 35 student team members to take on clients, deadlines and creative briefs that mirror the professional world.
OU’s current clients include Know the Glow, Furi Sport, Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl contest and Matchmaking.com.
When Mavorah joined as managing director last year, one of his first goals was to reshape OU’s internal culture and public image. He explained that while there wasn’t necessarily an issue with the old logo and brand image, he just wanted to evolve as an agency and truly position themselves as an agency for Gen Z.
“There was a misperception on campus that we were a club, that we were a fraternity, a sorority,” Mavorah said. “But at the end of the day, we’re an ad agency. We really needed to kind of redefine who we were and who we wanted to be.”
That transformation began with an internal look at the agency’s culture, mission, vision and values. Once that process was complete, Mavorah and his team realized the agency’s old logo no longer represented its identity.
“The old logo with the upside-down umbrella wasn’t contemporary. It wasn’t future-thinking. It wasn’t innovative or bold,” Mavorah said. “It lacked energy — all the things that now define who we are as an agency.”
The rebrand wasn’t just a change of look — it has become a symbol of unity and creative collaboration across the organization.
“During my first few weeks, I had everyone write a word on the board that they felt exemplified OU,” Mavorah said. “That exercise set the tone for the types of clients we want to attract and the types of students we want to hire.”
This spirit of collaboration carried through the entire rebranding process. Some students worked together over the summer in a smaller team acting as a focus group to test logo concepts and give honest feedback.
“It truly wasn’t just like ‘oh let’s fix a logo,’” Ava Prinzo, OU’s VP of public relations and senior creative advertising major, said. “It was a full revamp of everything, which definitely boosted morale here in the agency.”
Their website and social media pages were adjusted to match the revamp as well.
For Mavorah, the rebrand was as much about internal transformation as it was about external perception. He compared the new logo to the Nike logo. Even though it may not be understood by everyone, it’s incredibly definable.
“This wasn’t about clients. It was about us,” Mavorah said. “It was about cultural transformation because it’s good for team morale, it’s good for business and it’s good for awareness on campus.”
The new identity has also helped increase awareness on campus. Students who previously overlooked OU are now taking notice and Mavorah couldn’t be more grateful.
“People see the new logo and realize things are happening — that it’s an exciting time for us,” Mavorah said.
With its refreshed logo and renewed purpose, OU’s rebrand marks a new chapter for the agency — one defined by creativity, curiosity and confidence.