NWSL Expansion by mcrosby: Kansas City added 12/25

[mcrosby]

5 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

Four clubs or five? Are you still planning for a Florida-based club to be one of the 10 Eastern teams? I see Orlando marked as a franchise site on the map, but no logo has been unveiled in the thread.

Also, I don't know where updates to Las Vegas stand, but if you're feeling stymied, have you given any thought to swapping the market out for Phoenix? 

As for the markets you've listed here:

Washington
I've never been a fan of the Washington Spirit name or logo. I'd opt for Washington Freedom or DC Freedom, with a badge that incorporates imagery inspired by the Statue of Freedom atop the United States Capitol dome.

Chicago
I'd stick with Chicago Red Stars as the club's name. As for the logo, I think an update akin to you tweak of the Portland Thorns mark would be satisfactory

San Antonio
Of the names you're considering, Zorras is a non-starter. In Spanish, it isn't simply a feminine version of the male Zorro, meaning "fox". Rather, it's slang, with a meaning somewhere between "b!tch" and "whore". Clearly, not optimal. As for Calaveras, after MiLB's Copa de la Diversión promotion of the past couple of years, the whole candy skull imagery trend seems played out.

Albuquerque Denver
Instead of Albuquerque, I'd site a team in Denver. Denver City not only has a traditional soccer ring to it, but was the original name of the municipality from its founding in 1858 until 1881.       

 

 

Oh shoot, I forgot Orlando. Yes, still planning on Orlando. 

 

Good save with San Antonio. I think I'll avoid Express due to the El Paso USL club. 

 

I think I've got something completely different in mind for DC. Stay tuned, they're next. 

[PERRIN]

14 hours ago, mcrosby said:

As much as I love this logo, I find the Witch/occult theme unfitting for New England as a whole. That's pretty much localized in the Salem area. I grew up in Greater Boston and never saw anything witchy. I much prefer the Muses/Academics theme, as that is much more spread out through the region.

[mcrosby]

2 hours ago, Punchy_Gungus said:

As much as I love this logo, I find the Witch/occult theme unfitting for New England as a whole. That's pretty much localized in the Salem area. I grew up in Greater Boston and never saw anything witchy. I much prefer the Muses/Academics theme, as that is much more spread out through the region.

Honestly, I went occult because of the recent rise in witchy trendiness, specifically witches v the patriarchy. Witchiness has been adopted as an empowering movement among young women. 

[PERRIN]

1 hour ago, mcrosby said:

Honestly, I went occult because of the recent rise in witchy trendiness, specifically witches v the patriarchy. Witchiness has been adopted as an empowering movement among young women. 

Understandable, but it's not New England focused. That was the point I was trying to make.

[mcrosby]

This was a late night idea for Washington that does away with the overdone red-white-blue of DC teams and is more in the spirit of the city. The diamond is split by cherry branches and follows the paths of the Potomac and the Anacostia Rivers. on the cherry branch is a wood thrush, official bird of DC. I was going to sharpen up the bird some more, but I sort of like the rough illustration look. 

[sky1324]

That's absolutely brilliant. The DC outline color split, cherry blossoms (which always look beautiful), the bird, at all looks amazing. I'm not sold on the font or green color, but everything else amazing as always.

[mcrosby]

Just now, QueenCitySwarm said:

That's absolutely brilliant. The DC outline color split, cherry blossoms (which always look beautiful), the bird, at all looks amazing. I'm not sold on the font or green color, but everything else amazing as always.

The font felt...federal. I think I've seen it on cash. Open to suggestions. 

[Axe]

4 minutes ago, mcrosby said:

This was a late night idea for Washington that does away with the overdone red-white-blue of DC teams and is more in the spirit of the city. The diamond is split by cherry branches and follows the paths of the Potomac and the Anacostia Rivers. on the cherry branch is a wood thrush, official bird of DC. I was going to sharpen up the bird some more, but I sort of like the rough illustration look. 

 

Words cannot describe how I feel about this design. It's just so.... 

[tBBP]

58 minutes ago, mcrosby said:

This was a late night idea for Washington that does away with the overdone red-white-blue of DC teams and is more in the spirit of the city. The diamond is split by cherry branches and follows the paths of the Potomac and the Anacostia Rivers. on the cherry branch is a wood thrush, official bird of DC. I was going to sharpen up the bird some more, but I sort of like the rough illustration look. 

 

That is certainly different. I don't love the choice of font (though I see why you chose it)--but I lovd the concept overall. That said, I think you'd benefit from a few less actual blossoms just to eliminate some of the clutter. And this may be an instance where only one ribbon would benefit the badge...it'd be squeezing it, but I think localizing "Washington" and "SPIRIT SC" on the same ribbon--on the bottom--would also let the shape, the bird and the branches breathe a little bit.

 

(Also, off to the side...you're really ribbing me to pick back up on my soccer league concept series, dude. This stuff is way too good.)

[mcrosby]

5 hours ago, QueenCitySwarm said:

That's absolutely brilliant. The DC outline color split, cherry blossoms (which always look beautiful), the bird, at all looks amazing. I'm not sold on the font or green color, but everything else amazing as always.

[sky1324]

5 minutes ago, mcrosby said:

I think this is much better. The DC feels slightly forced, but the font itself is a ton better. Great work!

[Brian in Boston]

15 hours ago, mcrosby said:

There's a delicate, almost ephemeral feel to this logo that sets it apart from most sports brands. Your rendering of the cherry blossom tree is so spot-on that I can almost hear the sound of a breeze blowing through the branches, rustling the flowers, sending a few blooms spiraling to the ground. That being said, I personally find that the wood thrush and the black bands containing the word marks err on the side of overpowering the logo.

Frankly, I think you could lose the thrush. It's not rendered as sharply as the flowers and leaves on the tree, the result being - at least to my mind - that it visually muddies the center of the mark. I'd rather see another cherry blossom branch - very thin - running up through the center of the logo, perhaps tracing the path of Rock Creek.

As for the bands, they seem a bit too stiff. The containment shapes for the word mark should be rendered more delicately... in a way that gives the impression that they're each part of a ribbon that's been caught in a breeze and has wrapped itself around the diamond while being blown through the air.. Said ribbon/containment shape might benefit from being a lighter color as well, though I don't know what it could be. It just strikes me that the black threatens to overwhelm the logo. I love the new font choice, though I feel the DC is overkill in the upper band. I think you could keep the FC in the lower band, but I'd suggest getting rid of the cherry blossoms within said band, then moving SPIRIT to the left in order to buy yourself the space to place the FC side-by-side next to the team name. 

All of that said, kudos on thinking outside the box for a Washington, DC identity.        

[Axe]

3 hours ago, mcrosby said:

 

The choice in font is better, but I feel like the extra blossoms in the bottom banner are unnecessary. Same with the "DC" at the top. In this case, less is more. 

[Whittier S]

Brilliant concept, brilliant colorway, though I do believe the bird is too detailed.

[mcrosby]

5 hours ago, Whittier S said:

Brilliant concept, brilliant colorway, though I do believe the bird is too detailed.

 

19 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

Frankly, I think you could lose the thrush. It's not rendered as sharply as the flowers and leaves on the tree, the result being - at least to my mind - that it visually muddies the center of the mark. 

 

Here's an updated thrush and slightly softer ribbons. 

[Whittier S]

This is simply inspired. I wish some teams out there would hire you and some of the other incredible talent around these boards.

[mcrosby]

NOW I have 4 clubs left + Las Vegas reworks

 

• Chicago Red Stars
  • I'm still open to other name suggestions
• Orlando Pride
  • anything better than the fountain? 
• San Antonio
  • Express isn't really my jam, what else you got? 
• ABQ/Denver
  • Denver is a decent idea. Denver City is nice, open to anything else. What do you want to see on a logo? 

[JMtexan09]

San Antonio Fiesta SC? At least something opposite from NE Curse.

 

San Antonio Express is the actual name of the city's newspaper 

[mcrosby]

Years and area codes have gotten fairly popular in soccer branding, so why not feet above sea level? Here's 5280 Denver FC

[Brian in Boston]

2 hours ago, mcrosby said:

Years and area codes have gotten fairly popular in soccer branding, so why not feet above sea level? Here's 5280 Denver FC

Okay, I'm spitballing here...

5280 Denver FC strikes me as being a bit a mouthful; it doesn't really flow. As for the logo, it's a bit too tall and narrow to read as a D. That might be helped if you added serifs to the upper and lower left-hand corners of the letter. Additionally, you could make it a bit squatter.  Based upon the size of the logo's component elements, the Denver FC portion of the name is also getting short shrift here. It seems like an afterthought. That could also stand to be made a bit larger. 

If you're committed to rendering the D in the logo in the long, narrow manner, I have a suggestion. There's a local landmark in Denver - The Daniels & Fisher Tower - that's on the National Register of Historic Places. Here's a photo of it:



The "D" of your logo could be used to replace the bottom 2/3 of the Daniels & Fisher Tower, with everything from here through the flagpole...



... serving to cap the badge.

Or, if you're really sold on leaning into the host city's elevation, maybe you go with a team name like Mile High Athletic (Denver - indeed, Colorado - is known for being home to an extremely fit population) and have the 5280 play an ancillary role in the design. Something akin to the 96 in the Columbus Crew's badge, or the MMXX in Inter Miami's.