Revisit

It has been quite a year for the Washington Capitals hockey organization. Last year the professional franchise created a lot of energy by re-branding its logo, followed by their first appearance in the playoffs in years, where their marketing push of “Rock the Red” took center stage. This year, they one-upped themselves by advancing in the playoffs to the second round. Perhaps next year will produce a cup winning team.

But to the subject matter at hand, their farm clubs, the Hershey Bears from the AHL and the AA affiliate from the ECHL, the South Carolina Stingrays, already grabbed their league’s respective cups  and both did so in dramatic seven game series. Ironically, the Stingrays re-branding preceded their success as well. At the beginning of this season, the team released a new logo design, which features the same iconic stingray, but rendered in a much different way.

Whereas I didn’t really care much for the Capitals logo re-design, I did actually like this one. The Stingrays former logo featured a more cartoon-like style which was/is fairly consistent with the league’s other team logos. From a straight design perspective, the logo is too tight and busy in the way it incorporates the type. I don’t mind cartoony, but the type has to work with it, and in this case, the type makes it harder to assimilate the illustration. As it pertains to the illustration, I don’t care much for the flashing tail. But in terms of tails, it definitely is better than the original rendering.

The original design is very forced as all of the concept building blocks seem to be thrown on the canvas. It includes the state map, the stingray, the hockey stick, and a tail. The tail bothers me because I cannot tell if it’s a tail or a tree. I have a feeling it was intended to be both – the tree being the official state tree, the cabbage palmetto. The state shape has always interfered with how I interpret the shape of the stingray, which seems to get jumbled together forming one shape versus the two.

The new logo designed by The Joe Bosack Graphic Design Co. is much more integrated. As you can see right away, the type has a clear hierarchy with South Carolina on top, Stingrays underneath. The custom type treatment repeats the sharp edge seen throughout the Stingray illustration. The illustration itself is a lot more simple, yet still clearly identifiable. It also reproduces well on a small scale, even though the contrast might not be my first choice with two dark shades. The logo is definitely an improvement and has an aggressive quality which is ideal for hockey!

The secondary logo is a stylized version of the state flag, whereas the second has some simliar elements, adding in the Ravenel Bridge. The logos are cohesive in their styling with the primary logo in a number of ways, although I don’t think you’d be selling to many of these as jerseys of their own.

I was just re-reading a post yesterday that I had written just prior to the NHL season regarding the Washington Capitals Logo and how the eagle somewhat resembled the D.C. United’s Logo. Ironically, today the D.C. United unveiled new uniforms, which don’t feature a new eagle form or anything of the like. In fact, the uniforms haven’t changed much at all, if you exclude the large Volkswagen logo planted smack dab in the middle of the jersey.

That’s right, the D.C. United now sport the big VW on their uniforms and from what I’m gathering, the reception has been rather good. You can read more about the finer details by visiting the team’s official blog, Behind the Badge.

“We left our jersey blank for a long time because it was so important that the brand we associated with matched up and complemented our D.C. United brand,” said D.C. United managing partner Victor MacFarlane. “I’m pleased to say we’ve found that brand.”

Not being a passionate soccer fan myself, I suppose I’m unsure of how autos conceptually meld with soccer. I realize that the sport has a stronger following in Europe and Volkswagen is European, so I guess that’s something, but we’re in America, right? Anyway, I do like the jerseys and having one of the most well-established symbols on the planet, can only help the sales of merchandise and ticket sales.

In terms of co-branding, D.C. United’s team logo is obviously not the focal point. I presume that with soccer, this is more of the trend, or perhaps this is helping establish a trend where sponsors play more of a central role in the marketing. Perhaps this sport’s marketing will evolve to be somewhat akin to Nascar, where the focal point on the cars is the sponsor.

In any case, Volkwagon is a great brand, soccer is a far reaching sport, and the D.C. United has been one of the most successful teams in the MLS, so this should a great development. Per the agreement itself, the new arrangement gives Volkswagen licensing rights to the United’s jerseys, stadium displays, and preference for stadium naming rights when a new one is determined. The deal is reported to be one of the most lucrative to date for the sport in the U.S., at an estimated $14 million.

Volkswagen’s initiative was conceived in conjunction with their recent re-location of their stateside headquarters to my hometown of Herndon, VA, a suburb of Washington D.C. “We are very proud to be part of the greater Washington, D.C. community,” said Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volkswagen’s U.S. division. “We always said when we moved to D.C. and when we moved closer to our customers, to be a real marketing organization, we want to be also showing our local commitment by partnering with a great organization in this area and we are happy that you waited so long for us.”

I have a feeling that the arrangement will work out well, and we should be seeing these jerseys around town pretty soon!

• Read the official press release
• Read more about Volkswagen

I just read an article on USA Today which says that the NFL will be releasing a new logo next year. The logo will replace a design which is nearly 40 years old.

The redesign will not deviate from the established shield shape, but will be switching some of the interior components. The amount of stars will be reduced from 25 to 8. The original number of 25 is said to be arbitrary, but the new figure of 8 is representative of the 8 divisions which compose the league. The stars will be larger scale and will certainly improve the scaling down and reproduction of the logo for merchandising purposes.

Next to the stars is the redesign of the football, which is said to more closely mimic that of the Vince Lombardi Trophy—which was my first impression as well. Although I do think the illustration is an improvement, it’s my opinion that the more vertical placement creates an awkward interaction with the shield spire above it.

Moving on to the type, the new face shifts from a stylized serif, noticeable on the L, versus a slab serif. The change simplifies the type and makes it crisp. The increased white space surrounding the type also helps make this version more readable than its predecessors.

Finally, color. The new blue is darker and bolder which coupled with the current red, makes the mark very bold. For football, a bold impression is the key.

Other sports articles:

• Washington Capitals Logo Design
• Capitals Logo Follow-Up

The Web 2.0 Expo is a conference for web professionals, marketers and entrepreneurs. It is a new event that brings Web 2.0 to life by featuring workshops, networking, and keynote speakers. Speakers included the top brass for Amazon, Google, and Yahoo!.

I personally did not attend, but learned about this via the web. What caught my attention first on the website was the amount of Web 2.0 sponsors featured on the sidebar. All of the big names were represented, but the one that caught my eye was a company called LongJump.

Web 2.0 logos as a whole do not hold my attention, so when I see one that stands out, it is somewhat refreshing. As a commentary which I may expound upon later, the Web 2.0 logos are too dependent on type and not enough on concept.

Per the topic of discussion, the LongJump logo has concept, but after visiting their site, I’m still trying to figure out how that meaning is supposed to convey to their product. The website does not tie-in the meaning of the metaphor. There is no repetition of this concept elsewhere that I could find or discern.

Regarding the logo itself, I found it to be clean and simple. The figure evokes an athletic silhouette much akin to the famous Air Jordan Jumpman logo by Nike. The color association of the illustration and the word jump was a nice connection. The bold upper case sans-serif is very modern Web 2.0-like, catering to its application savvy market. The kerning was a point of interest to me. Most 2.0 logo’s don’t play with type and I found extended kerning to be an appropriate solution for this particular illustration. It gives some breathing room for the solid figure, but it also works well with the jumper who is performing a horizontal jump.

Speaking of which, I am not a track star, but this jumper appears to be more of a hurdler than a long jumper. I have included a picture of U.S. gold medal Olympians Edwin Moses (hurdles) and Carl Lewis (long jump) to demonstrate these different postures. Perhaps the designer made a determination that the hurdler is just more aesthetic, but it is a detail worth mentioning nonethless.

Here’s my follow-up to Washington Capitals Logo Design.

It has been a few weeks since the Capitals Draft Party and now that I have seen the logo, the buzz is over with, and I have time to think about it, I have come to the same conclusion. The new logo is a bit more modern, but still needs work. The uniforms are flat and do not have the mezmorizing quality that the original franchise sweaters had with their red, white, and blue stars.

Listed below from left to right is the Capitals new sleeve eagle logo, the Pontiac Firebird logo, and the D.C. United logo. I did not see the negative space Capitol in my initial analysis, but it’s probably better that I didn’t. The form is contrived and does not add to the design. It is clever, but I fail to see the meaning that it adds.

My initial reaction to the secondary logo evoked thoughts of Smokey and the Bandit, so there wasn’t enough difference I suppose for me to get excited about.

Another point, which might be valid is the fact that Washington sports already have this form represented in the D.C. United, who feature the same poised eagle.

I suppose birds of a feather flock together.

Addendum: 7/10/07

I sorted through my papers to find one of the handouts from the Capitals Draft Party. I must say, the materials the Capitals PR put together were very nice. The event was promoted very well! Here is the card, you can click on it for more detail.

Anyone who wants to delve further into the Washington Capitals uniform subject further should check out capsjerseys.com.