Read the whole thing HERE.

I posted a blog a little while back focusing on the NFL’s new Super Bowl logo system. Well, it turns out that the Super Bowl logo was not the only thing getting an overhaul. The NFL has decided that they need to fuck up ALL existing logos. Take a look at these images. I’m shocked that the NFL would do a BEFORE/AFTER because of how bad the AFTER logos are compared to the old designs.

Click each image for larger view.

Conference Logos: I don’t have a problem so much with the letter style, but look how out of balance the stars make the AFC logo. The original AFC logo had balance because of the three stars on either side of the “A”. Now we have four stars on one side of the “A”. If you HAVE to have four stars, couldn’t you put two on each side of that “A”? It just looks odd.

Playoff Logos: Out of all of the redesigns, these playoff logos have to be some of the biggest pieces of garbage I have ever seen. Gradients? Really? There’s just so much to hate about these.

Preseason Logos: I have no problem with these. The NFL made a good choice not to dip EVERY logo in the chrome filter. Balance and consistency that works. I like these.

Postseason Logos: What. The. Fuck? If you look at those two new AFC/NFC trophies from a distance, they look like lobster claws. The old logos had bulk and toughness to them. These new ones, designed by Tiffany (yes, Tiffany) look a little sissified.

Super Bowl Logo: This would be fine if it were just for one year. But to carry it on for god knows how long is just silly.

All-in-all, I think these new logos and trophy redesigns are a flop. However, nobody outside of the graphic design community will give a crap. Which is sad. I loved the originality of – and looked forward to – each year’s updated Super Bowl logo. Now that the NFL has decided to reign in creativity, and dip everything in chrome, there’s nothing to look forward to each year as a designer and fan of sports. The NFL really is the No Fun League.

The Canaries are no more.

The American Association baseball team announced today its new name will be the Sioux Falls Pheasants.

The Canaries brand, which dated back nearly 70 years, was re-adopted by the Sioux Falls franchise when it helped form the new-era Northern League.

Read the whole thing HERE.

Some of my favorite designers to follow are Studio Simon and Plan B Branding. I suggest you check out Plan B’s blog, The Clink Room, for some very entertaining reads. They really do a great job of giving you the ins and outs of designing for minor league baseball teams. From sketch to final design, their blog covers it perfectly.

Now on to the logo and uniform changes for minor league baseball. MinorLeagueBaseball.com has an excellent article on the new designs for 2010, written by Benjamin Hill. Mr. Hill goes into detail on what changes were made.

Let’s take a quick look at the new logos…

Lakewood BlueClaws, designed by Plan B.

New Orleans Zephyrs designed by Rickabaugh Branding

Mobile BayBears designed by Plan B.

Richmond Flying Squirrels designed by Plan B.

Bradenton Marauders designed by Studio Simon.

Eugene Emeralds designed by Studio Simon.

Wilmington Blue Rocks designed by Plan B.

And for good measure, here’s Ben’s Biz Blog’s take on some minor league baseball logo changes.

If you look at these logos, there’s no mistaking that they are very well done, designed by true professionals. Having said that, you’d never see this type of design in Major League Baseball. But that’s ok. Minor league teams have more leeway, and need to explore every angle in getting fan interest. If they have family-friendly designs, kids are more apt to want their t-shirts, hats, jerseys, etc. Those extra dollars help these minor league teams roll along. Without the advertising dollars like MLB has, apparel donning cartoon mascot logo designs are one way to help generate much needed extra revenue.

The Winter Olympics Uniforms: For God, Country, Fashion, and Sport

BY Joe DuffyThu Feb 11, 2010

As a designer, after the competition and the opening/closing ceremonies, what captures my attention is the way the countries present themselves in uniform and the role the uniform takes in projecting national imagery, sporting culture and fashion. First, of course, is team USA. The 2010 Winter Olympic ceremonial team uniforms are designed by Ralph Lauren, classically American styled with a sense of casual athletic ruggedness.

Read the whole thing here.

Most Browns fans are aware that while our favorite team doesn’t have a logo on its helmets, it once almost did. Or actually did. Or something.

In 1965 the Browns were, supposedly, set to wear a logo on their domes for the first time (though they had previously worn numbers on their helmets). It was a stylized “CB” emblem that David Boss, a photographer and artist who would later start the NFL Creative Services department, designed at the behest of Art Modell for the NFL. That’s about where fact and knowledge end in this infamous tale.

Read the whole thing HERE.

Logo theft is a big problem. All you have to do is type in “logo theft” in a Google search and you can see an epidemic of design thievery going on and it needs to stop. Lights need to shine on these people. But since this a sports specific blog, I’ll stay on topic.

I was surfing the forums over on SportsLogos.net, which I always do, and found this thread on logo theft. The thread title was “possible theft”, but this is 100%, absolute theft.

Take a look at this Arkansas Diamonds logo.

Other than the logo looking like total garbage, there’s not much to discuss, right? Well, wait a minute… Check out this Golden Baseball League’s Mesa Miners logo, designed by the great Studio Simon. The miner’s head looks familiar, doesn’t it?

Now take a look at this University of Texas El Paso logo. The right arm of the Arkansas Diamonds used this UTEP logo as their model.

And, in case you need more visuals, I made this side by side comparison graphic of the three logos.

The Arkansas Diamonds decided it was better to rip some other designer(s) off, rather than pay someone with talent a fair fee for a professional logo. A lot of time, research and development goes into these logos and teams that think they can fly under the radar need to be called out.

Here is the Arkansas Diamonds’ official website, but there’s no contact form to get a comment from someone in the organization. I took it upon myself to leave a comment on their guestbook about the infraction. Let’s see if they respond. I’m not holding my breath.

The comments in the thread on SportsLogos.net are interesting to say the least.

I love this one by rams80:
“Just because you’re a cheapskate fly-by-night bush league organization doesn’t mean copyright law doesn’t apply to you.”

On the flip-side, you have this idiot (microdragon):
“you american are so naif, look at the rest of the world, many soccer team have their logo copied, and they dont have to face any lawsuits, for this i considered your complaints Stupid”

The problem is that there are more and more people that think like microdragon. Like it’s ok to “borrow” pieces of someone else’s work, mash them together, and try to pass it off as your own.

This is not the first time this has happened and won’t be the last. But if we can shine a light on these logo thieves, maybe it happens a little less.

I’m curious how Studio Simon is gonna handle this and I’ll try to keep on top of it and report back here.

If you have other examples of sports logo theft, shoot me an e-mail or post some links in the comments section.

UPDATE:

Once I heard about this logo theft on SportsLogos.net forum, I went to the Diamonds’ team site and tried to contact them about the theft. Unfortunately, there was no contact email to get a response about the claim and proof of theft.

So, I posted a message to the team’s website guestbook and contacted hometeamsonline.com, which hosts the Diamonds’ website and other collection of team sites.

Today I got an email from Jim Smith, who, I assume, is part of the Arizona Diamonds organization:

The logo was done by an employee from art sites and places on the web. We knew nothing about Mesa or anyone else. (he has been fired)However, we’ve done a new logo purchased from clipart and attached.

Here’s their new logo. It’s still terrible, but at least they took care of the copyright infringement.

Well, it looks like NBC Sports guessed wrong.

I blogged earlier about a report on NBC Sports that suggested that the NFL’s new Super Bowl logo standard may be the ditching of Roman numerals. Wrong.

The NFL just unveiled their new Super Bowl logo standard, where the design would remain the same except for the host stadium in the background and, of course, the Roman numerals changing yearly.

SOURCE ARTICLE

Here’s what the new Super Bowl logos will look like starting in 2011.

It’s an ok design. I like the overall metallic look, but it may get boring year after year. Even though this year’s logo doesn’t have any references to Miami or Florida, I liked how the previous Super Bowl logos had a color scheme and graphical elements in the logo that represented the city that was hosting that year’s Super Bowl.

Meh.

…..

The NFL is set to unveil their “new Super Bowl logo system” on Thursday. Here’s the story from NBC Sports:

The NFL has announced that, on Thursday at the Super Bowl XLIV Media Center, a “new Super Bowl logo system” will be introduced.

If you don’t quite know what that means, welcome to the club.

The announcement offers no other details, and our best guess at this point is that the league will begin to incorporate conventional numbering into the traditional Roman numeral approach, with “45″ tastefully and discreetly being added to next year’s “Super Bowl XLV” design.

The logo for next year’s Super Bowl also will be revealed at the Thursday press conference.

I like this and I don’t like this.

The pro: Well, I won’t have to spend a half an hour figuring out what all those Roman numerals mean in order to see which Super Bowl I’m actually watching.

The con: The Roman numerals are a cool art element to work with when designing the logo. More visually appealing than numbers, in my opinion.

The Super Bowl logo shown here would have to be in my top five. It really is a nice looking and clever piece of design work.

Take a trip down Super Bowl logo memory lane here.

BRAND NEW has a nice article on this year’s Super Bowl logo here.

To Jazz fans with a certain nostalgia, the news will be music to their ears and eyes: More than just a throwback jersey this season, the Jazz are considering bringing back their old logo on a full-time basis.

Jazz president Randy Rigby confirmed that the team has talked to the NBA about the possibility of returning to the music note logo worn through the team’s history by everyone from Pete Maravich and Darrell Griffith to John Stockton and Karl Malone.

“We’re looking at that,” Rigby said, adding, “We’ve kept that mark so that we can look at maybe doing a redesign.”

READ THE WHOLE THING HERE.

HT: ColorWerx

I love when agencies show off their work, from sketches to final design, while discussing the finer details that go into a particular job. Such an interesting read.

The Heat is On

In 2007, the NBA’s Miami Heat came to RARE Design looking to expand their brand identity with the creation of a new secondary mark. A secondary mark is normally designed as a companion to the primary mark, and is used in such important places as merchandise, the team’s court, etc. These are almost always used subordinately to the primary mark (hence the name). In many cases, the secondary is more simplified than the primary, and it often touches on more regional aspects of the team’s identity.

Read the whole thing HERE.

HT: ColorWerx