What are/were the worst block letter primary logos?

[BrandMooreArt]

First of all, if you're going to do a monogram logo, it needs to be the first letter of the city name (or school name in college), not the team name. Second of all, it replaced a far superior primary logo.

why? ive never understood this and that seems like a dumb rule. you think they'd be more original with an orange "C"?

Well since the Bengals name is already represented by the stripes it would make more sense to have a C for the I represented city name than having the team name represented twice.

i dont see why that makes more since or is a better idea. no one else in the league has a B as their logo. its the most original solution. it might not be as interesting as the tiger head, but this logo works much better across various applications, especially embroidery. having an original mark that works in all applications is much more important than meeting some rule someone made up of having to represent the city first, especially in pro sports where the team name is the primary identifier of the team, not the city. ask someone who their favorite NCAA team is and they say "Miami" but ask what their favorite NFL team is they say "the Dolphins".

you can't approach identity questions with predetermined solutions.

[Jungle Jim]

Maybe the Bengals chose the "B" because stripes on a "C" would have been hard to see.

[Dynasty]

Are we talking literally about "blocked" letter logos or just letter logos in general? If you mean the blocked ones then I agree that some blocked letter logos are atrocious, but a good amount of them aren't really that bad. Most of the college logos give me a bit of a different feel depending on the execution or history of the team. I really like Michigan's blocked "M" as it's pretty simple and doesn't really appeal to me as being bland since they've mostly used blocked "M's", but I hate Appalachian State's blocked "A" because their previous logo was so much better and now their current logo looks outdated. I personally can't stand pro teams using blocked letter logos unless their previous logo was even worse and there is no team I can think of that has a more terrible logo (I actually don't mind Cleveland's helmet logo).

[nicklas]

Michigan State when they used this "S"

I think they actually switched primary logos (to the Spartan profile logo) because the S wasn't easily identifiable outside of the Midwest. If you have to change your primary because it's confusing, then it's probably one of the worst.

[spartacat_12]

First of all, if you're going to do a monogram logo, it needs to be the first letter of the city name (or school name in college), not the team name.

why? ive never understood this and that seems like a dumb rule. you think they'd be more original with an orange "C"?

I agree. This is one of the most beloved logos in hockey and it does not include an "M" anywhere:

Also, in the CFL Toronto and Ottawa have a long history of using a block "A" and "R" on their helmets respectively. The A's have one of the best looks in baseball and have never used an "O" logo anywhere. It's really just a case-by-case situation.

[OnWis97]

Maybe the Bengals chose the "B" because stripes on a "C" would have been hard to see.

I think that's probably true.

Additionally, we have enough cat head logos in the NFL (thank god Detroit did not go for a "mean" cat head in their rebrand). Bring back the leaping tiger

[29texan]

First of all, if you're going to do a monogram logo, it needs to be the first letter of the city name (or school name in college), not the team name. Second of all, it replaced a far superior primary logo.

This isn't a "block font", but I have to ask why in the hell they decided that THIS was an upgrade or needed change as the team's primary identity over the bengal head/full body?

Seriously, who told them this was a good idea?

[chuckymack]

Some misguided idiot with the league's branding office. I, like Jungle Jim, am a lifelong Bengals fan and refuse to wear anything with this logo on it.

[Buster]

For an official logo, have to agree with Cleveland's "C". It's a copy of the 1904 Cleveland Blues when horrible fonts were acceptable and normal.

Tony Romo's "Big D" hat is horrible.

[Botiger]

First of all, if you're going to do a monogram logo, it needs to be the first letter of the city name (or school name in college), not the team name. Second of all, it replaced a far superior primary logo.

This is actually the primary reason that logo sucks. They still use the bengal head, but it's been relegated into obscurity, much like the Bengals franchise, for the last decade.

Such an ignorant statement. Maybe you should watch some football.

[altosax29b]

First of all, if you're going to do a monogram logo, it needs to be the first letter of the city name (or school name in college), not the team name. Second of all, it replaced a far superior primary logo.

This isn't a "block font", but I have to ask why in the hell they decided that THIS was an upgrade or needed change as the team's primary identity over the bengal head/full body?

Seriously, who told them this was a good idea?

Must have been some sort of bad idea to channel the look of the helmet more into a primary logo. I mean, when I think Cincinnati Bengals, at least for me, one of the first things I think of is the helmet. Then again for a lot of other people it might be the actual bengal that they think of first. Either way, it was a pretty lame idea to make the B the primary-I'm just trying to give some sort of logical explanation as to why we've been stuck with the B for ten years.

[CubsFanBudMan]

I just got to thinking about this because of how much I hate the Indians primary logo. I know they're in a difficult position with Chief Wahoo, and the C logo has some history, but it just seems like a bad attempt to emulate some of the classic block letter primaries in sports.

Just put a bear inside it and we're good?

Sorry, just find it interesting that with so much "hate" for a block C, you use a similar red block C as your avatar.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Tony Romo's "Big D" hat is horrible.

Tom Landry wore that logo before he made his fedora iconic, so I don't mind it for nostalgic reasons. But the double-star is superior. What's worse is that navy cap matches nothing on the rest of his uni.

[tBBP]

First of all, if you're going to do a monogram logo, it needs to be the first letter of the city name (or school name in college), not the team name. Second of all, it replaced a far superior primary logo.

This isn't a "block font", but I have to ask why in the hell they decided that THIS was an upgrade or needed change as the team's primary identity over the bengal head/full body?

Seriously, who told them this was a good idea?

Must have been some sort of bad idea to channel the look of the helmet more into a primary logo. I mean, when I think Cincinnati Bengals, at least for me, one of the first things I think of is the helmet. Then again for a lot of other people it might be the actual bengal that they think of first. Either way, it was a pretty lame idea to make the B the primary-I'm just trying to give some sort of logical explanation as to why we've been stuck with the B for ten years.

I don't remember where I read this, or if it was even true, but I recall reading somewhere years ago (and again, it may be complete conjecture) that the "B" supposedly is not for "B"engals, but for "B"rown--as in Paul Brown, founder of the franchise and for whom the Bengals' stadium is named.

That might be one explanation, if it has any shred of truth to it....

[altosax29b]

I just got to thinking about this because of how much I hate the Indians primary logo. I know they're in a difficult position with Chief Wahoo, and the C logo has some history, but it just seems like a bad attempt to emulate some of the classic block letter primaries in sports.

Just put a bear inside it and we're good?

Sorry, just find it interesting that with so much "hate" for a block C, you use a similar red block C as your avatar.

Block letter logos or monograms seem more appropriate for colleges. Also, the Cleveland C is incredibly bland when compared to Chief Wahoo which was one of the boldest, most easily recognizable primaries in baseball. Now they're just left with a C that the average person would not recognize at all. Their only hope is if they stick with it for the next few decades and it gets engrained in people's head that block red C = Cleveland Indians.

[Buster]

Tony Romo's "Big D" hat is horrible.

Tom Landry wore that logo before he made his fedora iconic, so I don't mind it for nostalgic reasons. But the double-star is superior. What's worse is that navy cap matches nothing on the rest of his uni.

It matches the navy on their helmets, that does not match the rest of the uniform,

[BrandMooreArt]

Tony Romo's "Big D" hat is horrible.

Tom Landry wore that logo before he made his fedora iconic, so I don't mind it for nostalgic reasons. But the double-star is superior. What's worse is that navy cap matches nothing on the rest of his uni.

It matches the navy on their helmets, that does not match the rest of the uniform,

im going to go ahead and derail the thread for second because i've recently learned why the colors are the way they are and i dont ever remember seeing this info on the boards

it has to do with presentation on TV. back when they made the switch to royal and silver-green it was in effort to make the blue appear brighter (navy looked too black) and the pants had a more metallic shine to them this way. of course today, there's no reason to do this but thought that was pretty interesting

[Lights Out]

no one else in the league has a B as their logo. its the most original solution.

They're not even the only team in their state to have a "B" logo:

And furthermore, it's just a typical sports design convention to have the first letter(s) of the city name as the basis of a monogram logo. Similar to other conventions, like "team name at home, city name on the road," not every team adheres to it, but they should.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

^ Agreed 110%. One of my logo pet peeves.

[oldschoolvikings]

I just got to thinking about this because of how much I hate the Indians primary logo. I know they're in a difficult position with Chief Wahoo, and the C logo has some history, but it just seems like a bad attempt to emulate some of the classic block letter primaries in sports.

Just put a bear inside it and we're good?

Sorry, just find it interesting that with so much "hate" for a block C, you use a similar red block C as your avatar.

Block letter logos or monograms seem more appropriate for colleges. Also, the Cleveland C is incredibly bland when compared to Chief Wahoo which was one of the boldest, most easily recognizable primaries in baseball. Now they're just left with a C that the average person would not recognize at all. Their only hope is if they stick with it for the next few decades and it gets engrained in people's head that block red C = Cleveland Indians.

But isn't there some other issue in regards to Chief Wahoo? I seem to remember something....