I was watching Sports Center on ESPN earlier today and it dawned on me that in looking back at team logos throughout sports history, they seem to be getting better. Owners figured out this magical money word called, "merchandising", and from that point on sports teams started to invest heavy resources into developing a logo/brand that will sell.
But you'll always find folks that become the unheralded exception, and sports logos are no different. While the trend is toward progress, there are some teams that didn't get the memo.
I've never designed logos for a professional athletes but not teams, so admittedly my knowledge is a bit limited, what I can surmise with some degree of confidence is that the process of coming up with a logo/brand for a professional sports team:
- Begins with brutally long, drawn-out brainstorming sessions
- Isn't a quick process, can take up to a year or two
- Involves a creative team rather than one designer
- Above mentioned creative team is forced to go through round after round of excruciating revisions
- Is finally decided by "suits" that sit up in plush press boxes rather than fans (well, perhaps there is some market research, but sometimes I wonder)
With all that in mind, here are the top ten teams I think got totally ripped off...what were they thinking?!?! Comments below...
1 - We'll start with the birds...I am not sure the old Jays logo was that good. Having the bird peeking out from the "J" in "Jays" is a clever concept but this bird should have been fried up and eaten a long time ago.
2 - I live in AZ, so in some way I feel like I have the authority to bash this one. Sorry fellas, the bird still isn't scary (see before and after). It's a shame really when we have loads of other scary critters in the desert. They should have changed the logo when they moved to AZ.
3 - I'd wager most people that don't Tivo, "Animal Planet" won't even know what the hell this is.
4 - Looks like a "stick figured" Gandalf that seems confused on whether to "hoop it up" or turn someone into a toad. Come on guys, looks like a little kid drew this one up.
5 - Sure the shading and depth on it is good, but it just looks so damn silly with those big teeth (it looks like a bucked-toothed beaver). I know saber-tooth cats looked like this, they just went WAY too far with the teeth.
6 - Continuing on with the big cats not being in proportion. This cat's teeth are fine but its head looks like a balloon in the Macy's parade.
7 - This one's an old one and it shows. It just doesn't work or flow right - like they tried to smash a round peg in a square hole. It kind of looks like the Los Angels Lippers rather than Clippers.
8 - Hmm, not sure what to think of the bleeding "h", I've never been able to figure this one out. I've heard it reminds designers of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
PS - UPDATE 10/06/09 - check out the Top 5 Worst College logos Think I went off on these pro logos? I had a field day with the college ones.
I'm with ya. #8 makes me think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer....
Love your comment on #4 : )
Posted by: lakia | June 19, 2009 at 07:03 PM