Old school --lower case, non-caps in branding

[Trapper John]

8 hours ago, Gothamite said:

Good call on the ABA, except for one.

 

 

I don't think this one qualifies.  The "N" is clearly upper case, even if that particular font uses a lower case-ish style.  

If the initial letters were the same size as the rest, then maybe it would fit.

 

The N?  The D is clearly a capital if nothing else... 

[Discogod]

14 hours ago, Gothamite said:

Good call on the ABA, except for one.

 

 

I don't think this one qualifies.  The "N" is clearly upper case, even if that particular font uses a lower case-ish style.  

If the initial letters were the same size as the rest, then maybe it would fit.

 

Yeah, I thought it a stretch but figured it was still worth mentioning.

[Gothamite]

7 hours ago, Trapper John said:

The N?  The D is clearly a capital if nothing else... 

 

Agreed. But I thought his point was that the N was lower-case.  Which it isn’t. 

[FinsUp1214]

Oh, the Chiefs had an all-lowercase wordmark as well. 

 

Not exactly sure when it was introduced, but here it is on 1969 team picture:

(On the bottom right corner under the helmet)

 

According to Gridiron Fields Database, they began using it on the end zones in 1972 (though it doesn’t have any entries listed before 1966 so I’m not entirely sure if it was used between 1963-66, anybody know for sure?)

 

And just for kicks, here it is on a 1979 program

 

 

[Gothamite]

I had forgotten that one. 

 

I actually prefer it to their modern version;  making it lower-case gives it a certain period style and elevates it beyond the relatively simple type. 

[FinsUp1214]

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

I had forgotten that one. 

 

I actually prefer it to their modern version;  making it lower-case gives it a certain period style and elevates it beyond the relatively simple type. 

 

I completely agree! I think the lowercase one helps to cement them as a product of the 60’s and gives them even more of a classic feel. Not that the Chiefs necessarily need help looking more classic, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to round the whole thing out with the 60’s era wordmark.

[VandyDelphia Mike]

Target remodels/renovations appear to be embracing this style aesthetic.

 

[eastfirst107]

On 11/15/2018 at 8:26 PM, andrewharrington said:

I would say the Brewers’ Ball-in-Glove logo fits this criteria.

You'd occasionally see the team name in all lower case tacked on above and below.

 

A couple of other random ones:

 

 

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, eastfirst107 said:

You'd occasionally see the team name in all lower case tacked on above and below.

 

That was their primary logo for much of its life, even if the mothership doesn’t indicate that. 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

On 11/16/2018 at 3:50 PM, Gothamite said:

On 11/16/2018 at 1:51 PM, Discogod said:

 

I don't think this one qualifies.  The "N" is clearly upper case, even if that particular font uses a lower case-ish style.  

If the initial letters were the same size as the rest, then maybe it would fit.

 

Even if the N is bigger than the other letters in "Nuggets", it's still the minuscule or lower-case form.  Just as the Gs in "Nuggets", though smaller than the N, are the majuscule or upper-case form.

The Atlanta Braves introduced a lower-case A on their caps in 1972.  In 1976 they changed the script on their road uniform from "Braves" to "Atlanta"; and they presented this word with the lower-case A from the cap.

 

 

The team kept the lower-case A through 1980, and then switched in 1981 to an upper-case A, both in the uniform script and on the cap.

 

  

 

 

 

Take a look at the very interesting logo for Buzzfeed.

 

 

This clever logo is disorienting because the "uzz" has letterforms that will at first most likely be interpreted as small caps. But then comes the pair "ee", consisting of letters which are in the lower-case form; this makes us go back and reanalyse the "uzz" as lower-case.  And finally we're hit with the D, which is in the upper-case form, but small.  This leaves the logo in a state of ambiguity: are the exceptions the lower-case Es amongst all upper-case forms? Or is the exception the upper-case D, the only small-cap amongst lower-case letters?

The point is that what makes a letter upper-case or lower-case is its form, not its size relative to the rest of the word.

 

 

[andrewharrington]

25 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Even if the N is bigger than the other letters in "Nuggets", it's still the minuscule or lower-case form.  Just as the Gs in "Nuggets", though smaller than the N, are the majuscule or upper-case form.

The Atlanta Braves introduced a lower-case A on their caps in 1972.  In 1976 they changed the script on their road uniform from "Braves" to "Atlanta"; and they presented this word with the lower-case A from the cap.

 

 

The team kept the lower-case A through 1980, and then switched in 1981 to an upper-case A, both in the uniform script and on the cap.

 

  

 

 

 

Take a look at the very interesting logo for Buzzfeed.

 

 

This clever logo is disorienting because the "uzz" has letterforms that will at first most likely be interpreted as small caps. But then comes the pair "ee", consisting of letters which are in the lower-case form; this makes us go back and reanalyse the "uzz" as lower-case.  And finally we're hit with the D, which is in the upper-case form, but small.  This leaves the logo in a state of ambiguity: are the exceptions the lower-case Es amongst all upper-case forms? Or is the exception the upper-case D, the only small-cap amongst lower-case letters?

The point is that what makes a letter upper-case or lower-case is its form, not its size relative to the rest of the word.

 

 

 

The capital A is written like that in many styles, though, so I wouldn’t consider that lowercase.

[DrJack]

On 11/17/2018 at 1:50 PM, VandyDelphia Mike said:

Target remodels/renovations appear to be embracing this style aesthetic.

Target just converted an old bowling alley into a store in Portland.  They actually stayed true to the bowling alley aesthetic, updated the original signage, and made some nice facade upgrades.  Sucks the bowling alley is gone, but this exceeds my expectations from a design standpoint - considering this is a billion dollar national chain big box retail.  Well done, Target.

 

Original for reference: 

 

The original B-O-W-L sign letters are hanging in the store as an interior design element.

 

[BC985]

Not old school, but my alma mater came to mind. Terrible logo, but I can’t imagine them changing the e.  

 

[johnnysama]

I guess you can consider adidas to have an old school look with all-lowercase branding, as they've used it for a long time.

 

Also: Nike's first wordmark was all-lowercase.

[BBTV]

On 11/19/2018 at 4:01 PM, Duck_Duck said:

Target just converted an old bowling alley into a store in Portland.  They actually stayed true to the bowling alley aesthetic, updated the original signage, and made some nice facade upgrades.  Sucks the bowling alley is gone, but this exceeds my expectations from a design standpoint - considering this is a billion dollar national chain big box retail.  Well done, Target.

 

Original for reference: 

 

The original B-O-W-L sign letters are hanging in the store as an interior design element.

 

 

Thats great! I’d love to see more examples like this. 

[Bruhammydude]

On 11/16/2018 at 8:48 AM, DC in Da House w/o a Doubt said:

University of Maryland (1966-1971):

 

Boise State (1974-2001):

 

Florida State (1970):

 

um...

[SCalderwood]

The Washington Wizards win this thread.  Easily.  They have 6 different jerseys (all of their jerseys) that do this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not to mention this

 

 

 

And before that this

 

[MN Wilkings]

deleted

[pepis21]

On 11/23/2018 at 6:10 AM, johnnysama said:

I guess you can consider adidas to have an old school look with all-lowercase branding, as they've used it for a long time.

 

What about biggest adidas rival puma?

 

"M" suggets lower case.

 

also two brands that once was owned by adidas using lower case:

 

There is also a few others brands using lower case like umbro, new balance, macron, lotto, etc.

[MN Wilkings]

‘71-‘72 California Angels