Cleveland Indians become the Cleveland Guardians

[Ark]

They should have become the Spiders

 

It rolls off the tongue so much better than the Guardians.

[goalieboy82]

will Cleveland still make hats and uniforms with there old name and logo on it (in order to keep some kind of trademark on it, same thing with the Washington Football Team). 

[panthers_2012]

On 11/17/2021 at 6:46 PM, goalieboy82 said:

will Cleveland still make hats and uniforms with there old name and logo on it (in order to keep some kind of trademark on it, same thing with the Washington Football Team). 

Yes. They have said that. Only in the ballpark.

[bbush24]

As a fan, I'm really trying to talk myself into liking the rebrand and I'm hoping it grows on me. But so far it's done the opposite. There's not a single thing I like about it to be honest. I really hate that font, especially knowing the nameplates on the jerseys will be using it. It just feels sloppy and disjointed. The only thing I actually do like about the font is the C, which would be better than the cartoonish "diamond C" logo imo. Having two different but similar Cs in the logo and wordmark is strange. And this doesn't even include the worst part of the whole thing, the flying G logo. I was fine with moving on from the Indians, but man did they (unsurprisingly) miss the mark.

[BadSeed84]

You can see how their numbers will look like.

 

 

[CLEstones]

So many missed opportunities.  So many it hurts.

[CS85]

Everything about this feels so pinched up.  The numbers are going to look too small on the uniforms, the C logo on the cap already looks like it's eensy-teensy (and minor-league), and then you've got conflicting branding in the type.  The Guardians wordmark with the underline is acceptable, but then you've got it spelled out in your twitter header image with a different font on both the wordmark and the cap. 

I think there's still a lot of potential in the Guardians brand and in the coming years I hope they ease this design into a more timeless-feeling look, but this Awkward Rebranding Puberty will need an enormous amount of patience from some fans and design nerds like ourselves.

[McCall]

47 minutes ago, CS85 said:

Everything about this feels so pinched up.  The numbers are going to look too small on the uniforms, the C logo on the cap already looks like it's eensy-teensy (and minor-league little league),

FTFY

 

The Guardians script is about the only acceptable component of this branding. Some other parts are not terrible, just not really great. The G-Ball logo is very generic, like it was the identity used in a video game to cover up the Indians identity. The custom font is kinda ok for the Cleveland wordmarks on the jerseys, but just looks awkward for the names and numbers. The squeezed-C (why does it have to be squeezed?) is also too generic. The block-C had more life than this, maybe because it actually harkened back to an old logo from the team's history.  This C is too narrow. And I may be in the minority, but I liked the no white outline on the block-C. If the new one were a little bigger/wider, I think a no outline would help. The outline actually adds to the genericness.

 

Also, I don't see a red-brimmed hat anywhere on that hat wall or any of the pictures from the team store. However, the photoshopped mock-ups from the initial announcement showed one.

[crashcarson15]

14 minutes ago, McCall said:

FTFY

 

The Guardians script is about the only acceptable component of this branding. Some other parts are not terrible, just not really great. The G-Ball logo is very generic, like it was the identity used in a video game to cover up the Indians identity. The custom font is kinda ok for the Cleveland wordmarks on the jerseys, but just looks awkward for the names and numbers. The squeezed-C (why does it have to be squeezed?) is also too generic. The block-C had more life than this, maybe because it actually harkened back to an old logo from the team's history.  This C is too narrow. And I may be in the minority, but I liked the no white outline on the block-C. If the new one were a little bigger/wider, I think a no outline would help. The outline actually adds to the genericness.

 

Also, I don't see a red-brimmed hat anywhere on that hat wall or any of the pictures from the team store. However, the photoshopped mock-ups from the initial announcement showed one.

I don't think any of the 59FIFTY fitteds are in yet; the only 59FIFTYs on the website are the snapbacks, so that may have something to do with the lack of red-brimmed hats on the wall.

[Digby]

I'm going to defend the G-ball for a second. I think it pulls from somewhere between art deco and postwar kitsch (with also a maybe-reference to the Major League art) which befits the team's new scripts and branding inspiration. I don't see that as generic at all; the default "looks" of baseball have been either the Brandiose cartoons of the past decade-plus or the aggressive, detailed animals of the turn-of-millennium. It's pretty different, but also fitting for an old baseball team, and strikes me as pretty distinctive for being a baseball and a letter.

[OnWis97]

I actually like everything except for the flying G.  The script seems like something that could be used for an expansion team but also seems like it could have been in use had the team had this name for the last several decades. The cap logo is solid if unspectacular.  Given what they were up against, they did a good job looking like an original AL team. Keeping the color scheme was very important to that end and it's not their problem that too many teams have a similar scheme. Most modern color schemes use like five colors and even if they'd chosen something more traditional (e.g., royal and yellow or green and gray) it would have felt very expansiony. Good job, except for...

 

...The flying G. I have OCD and that logo bugs it. First, it looks (as someone else pointed out) art deco amidst an otherwise very traditional look. More importantly, I can't stand the implied backwards G on the other side.  And finally, because of it's orientation, it's going on the right sleeve. Most patches go on the left; it's pretty rare to have a permanent patch in the right and then nothing on the left.

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

I should hate the flying G, but I love it. I can't even explain why

[Survival79]

Smashing success: Cleveland Guardians team shop sign goes up and quickly comes back down

 

CLEVELAND — A new era for Cleveland baseball started and quickly came to a halt after the new Guardians team shop sign came crashing down on the cement in front of Progressive Field Friday.

 

A worker was on the ladder checking the bolts when the sign came crashing down onto the cement below.

 

News 5 journalist Mike Brookbank, who was at the team shop taking pictures, said the sign was up for about 30 to 40 minutes before it fell.

 

The sign ripped some of the stone facing from the wall.

 

The sign that fell was the original sign that hung outside the team shop when the team was named The Cleveland Indians.

 

The Cleveland Guardians opened the doors to the team shop at 9 a.m., where fans formed a long line anxiously awaiting to get their hands on the new merchandise. Everything from hats, sweatshirts and T-shirts were available for purchase.

 

The Cleveland Guardians changed their social media handles on Twitter and Instagram to the Guardians.

 

“We're taking the next major step,” said Anthony Controulis, Cleveland Guardians Communications Manager. “We're really kind of launching the Cleveland Guardians era at Progressive Field.

[Marlins93]

Where is the actual MLB uniform set? I don't understand the point of delaying that unveiling from a marketing perspective. 

[CitizenTino]

I wonder if this is a supply issue or if there were some last-minute tweaks to the uniforms. My bet is on the former.

[MJWalker45]

2 minutes ago, CitizenTino said:

I wonder if this is a supply issue or if there were some last-minute tweaks to the uniforms. My bet is on the former.

I'd say the latter, since it looked like most of what was shown previously was just a photoshop of the current uniforms with the new logos and numbers. 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

3 hours ago, bbush24 said:

As a fan, I'm really trying to talk myself into liking the rebrand and I'm hoping it grows on me. But so far it's done the opposite. There's not a single thing I like about it to be honest. I really hate that font, especially knowing the nameplates on the jerseys will be using it. It just feels sloppy and disjointed. The only thing I actually do like about the font is the C, which would be better than the cartoonish "diamond C" logo imo. Having two different but similar Cs in the logo and wordmark is strange. And this doesn't even include the worst part of the whole thing, the flying G logo. I was fine with moving on from the Indians, but man did they (unsurprisingly) miss the mark.

 

I agree with the points about the two C logos (the cap logo should be used in the wordmark) and about the use of the new font on the player names (they should be in a standard font, and should be one colour).

But I disagree about everything else.  I love the overall look, including the G logo.  I don't even mind the custom number font too much.  I would prefer a standard number font; but this custom font is not bad.  And the pointy-cursive wordmark is outstanding.

(I just hope that the New York Guardians don't change their name on account of this!)

 

[bbush24]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

I agree with the points about the two C logos (the cap logo should be used in the wordmark) and about the use of the new font on the player names (they should be in a standard font, and should be one colour).

But I disagree about everything else.  I love the overall look, including the G logo.  I don't even mind the custom number font too much.  I would prefer a standard number font; but this custom font is not bad.  And the pointy-cursive wordmark is outstanding.

(I just hope that the New York Guardians don't change their name on account of this!)

 

 

I do agree on the pointy-cursive wordmark. Love it. Stands out from the rest of the scripts in the league and ties into the team history. I'm trying really hard to like the G logo but I'm not there yet. The whole 3D thing is hard for me to get behind (no pun intended).

[damnyoutuesday]

3 hours ago, Marlins93 said:

Where is the actual MLB uniform set? I don't understand the point of delaying that unveiling from a marketing perspective. 

They unveiled photoshop renderings of them earlier this year

[Marlins93]

2 minutes ago, MNtwins3 said:

They unveiled photoshop renderings of them earlier this year

 

Of the entire set? The final versions?