AAUP is now the Association of University Presses
New York, NY, and Washington, DC — The Association of American University Presses (AAUP) is pleased to announce a name change to the Association of University Presses (AUPresses), effective immediately.
The membership of the Association voted in June to undertake this change, as part of a strategic assessment of the organization’s identity, mission, and goals. The new logo and visual identity that are revealed today are vibrant expressions of the Association’s purpose and vision.
The Association of University Presses is a community of publishing institutions and professionals committed to the highest caliber of research-based scholarship. Together, we advocate for the fundamental role of scholarly publishing in achieving academic excellence and in cultivating and disseminating knowledge.
The core of the Association is the idea of the university press. Our dynamic and diverse membership of global scholarly publishers share both a nonprofit mission-driven status and a commitment to the highest editorial and professional standards.
The original 1921 proposal to establish the organization suggested the name “Association of University Presses” although it was eventually founded as the Association of American University Presses in 1937. “What was once considered the ‘American university press’ model of editorial independence and rigor is a type of publishing that flourishes internationally,” said AUPresses Executive Director Peter Berkery. “Updating our name is simultaneously a return to roots and a flowering outwards, embracing what makes our members so essential to scholarly, civic, and cultural life.”
A Brand Working Group, including Association staff, officers, and members, provided guidance throughout the brand strategy and logo development process. The new logomark was created in collaboration with Studiolo Secondari and designers Paper Plus Rocket. The designers were briefed on the core identity, reaffirmed through the strategic assessment, of the Association: open and engaging, representing a forward-thinking and mission-driven publishing community that holds to—and stands for— high standards of scholarship and professionalism. The new visual identity will be easily adapted to print, online, and social uses.
Learn more at www.aupresses.org, and take a design retrospective through the history of AAUP’s look: AUPresses Visual History from AAUP on Vimeo.
About the Association of University Presses
AUPresses is an organization of 160 international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, the Association of University Presses advances the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association holds intellectual freedom, integrity, stewardship, and equity and inclusion as core values. AUPresses members are active across many scholarly disciplines, including the humanities, arts, and sciences, publish significant regional and literary work, and are innovators in the world of digital publishing.