Super Bowl LVI logo (...and the future of the standardized system)

[29texan 796]

...oh Lord, please tell me this isn't it.

Source

[neo_prankster 3,421]

2 minutes ago, 29texan said:

...oh Lord, please tell me this isn't it.

Source

Seriously? That's the best a multibillion dollar sports league can come up with?????

[Cujo 5,383]

Almost as bad as the pandemic.

[Cujo 5,383]

Gender Reveal LVI

[29texan 796]

That would be just as bad... The only hope is that, at the moment, neither of these are official. 

[Pharos04 1,189]

 

Rams website has this

[FinsUp1214 5,728]

If the cyan/magenta version is official (I’m betting it is), then I’m dissapointed but not surprised this system is still kicking around. 

 

This template they’ve run with has some flaws that I just can’t wrap my head around. The most minor of these is that the silver/grey lettering doesn’t stand out very well as a patch on white jerseys, at least not nearly as well as old non-templates patches did. If only that were the only problem, but there’s three more major ones that irk me about it too:

 

1. The lack of “local flair” and geographic identifiers in each Super Bowl’s brand makes the game’s brand seem less special than predecessors who’ve embraced thier hosts, as well as other major events that brand according to host (Final Four, Olympics, World Cup, various league All-Star games, etc). It’s such a “placeholder” look and seems uninspired compared to local-inspired branding. The only elements that do help each game’s brand stand apart from each other is the color scheme, which leads to the second problem...

 

2. The color schemes don’t appear to have much rhyme or reason to them, and don’t seem too inspired by host either. With this system, it seems any color has been on the table for any host and doesn’t seem to tie into the host in a recognizable way (and if it does, it does so too abstractly). LVI - again, IF the cyan/magenta version is official - will make this problem worse because cyan/magenta are very strongly tied to Miami, and yet the game is being played in LA. So now there’s a problem where there’s finally a color scheme you could strongly tie to a specific city, and yet said city isn’t hosting the game at all. 
 

And finally, 

 

3. The Lombardi Trophy, when used in this present context and capacity within the Roman numerals, always reads like it’s supposed to be an “I” to me. This year looked like “LIV” rather than “LV”, and next year’s looks like “LIVI”. It’s such an egregious typographical error that it baffles me how it keeps happening year after year.

 

Having worked in the design industry professionally for two years now, I know better now than to ever call professional designers at the NFL’s stage “lazy”; there’s just so much time and effort that gets put into these kind of events, so I don’t think these problems come from laziness, perhaps it’s more that the current system is “misguided”. That said, these problems are so clearly problematic to me - and thier solutions so clear - that it does give off the impression of laziness, and has led to what I consider to be the most seemingly-uninspired event branding of the last decade or so. I hope there comes a time when Super Bowl branding becomes as bold, fun, and host-specific as it used to be, but I’m not holding my breath that the time’s coming anytime soon. 

[TenaciousG 906]

14 minutes ago, FinsUp1214 said:

 

3. The Lombardi Trophy, when used in this present context and capacity within the Roman numerals, always reads like it’s supposed to be an “I” to me. This year looked like “LIV” rather than “LV”, and next year’s looks like “LIVI”. It’s such an egregious typographical error that it baffles me how it keeps happening year after year.

 

Having worked in the design industry professionally for two years now, I know better now than to ever call professional designers at the NFL’s stage “lazy”; there’s just so much time and effort that gets put into these kind of events, so I don’t think these problems come from laziness, perhaps it’s more that the current system is “misguided”. That said, these problems are so clearly problematic to me - and thier solutions so clear - that it does give off the impression of laziness, and has led to what I consider to be the most seemingly-uninspired event branding of the last decade or so. I hope there comes a time when Super Bowl branding becomes as bold, fun, and host-specific as it used to be, but I’m not holding my breath that the time’s coming anytime soon. 

YES on this year’s logo looking like “LIV”, it’s been driving me crazy.

 

I think with respect to the current branding, there’s probably a “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation where far too many people are involved with the game’s branding and this is the only thing they could agree on. It’s lame and I really hope it changes soon. When it does this era will look even dumber in retrospect... which might be another reason they might be keeping it. Hoping we will just give in if and accept it if they keep it going for a few more years.

[Pharos04 1,189]

apparently the cyan/magenta version is a mockup done on reddit.

 

does anyone have this year's program? usually it's near the end

[DG_ThenNowForever 16,687]

34 minutes ago, FinsUp1214 said:

3. The Lombardi Trophy, when used in this present context and capacity within the Roman numerals, always reads like it’s supposed to be an “I” to me. This year looked like “LIV” rather than “LV”, and next year’s looks like “LIVI”. It’s such an egregious typographical error that it baffles me how it keeps happening year after year.

 

 

 

It wasn't until today that I realized it was LV and not LIV.

[Eastport76 349]

1 hour ago, 29texan said:

...oh Lord, please tell me this isn't it.

Source

[TrueYankee26 1,150]

NFL is trolling us at this point. They know it is going to get universally hated but still go with it.

[TrueYankee26 1,150]

1 hour ago, Cujo said:

Gender Reveal LVI

That would be appropriate if the Miami Heat were hosting a Super Bowl.

[zigbazah 449]

Looking at the logo for the last Super Bowl held in LA and comparing it to the logo in the OP makes me genuinely sad. 

[BBTV 20,846]

I'm a fan of the logo 'system'.  To me it makes more sense to commemorate your biggest game in a way that instantly conveys that the teams are playing for the trophy as opposed to some special event like a London game or any other game that has a special logo.

 

My nitpick with the 'system' is, as has been mentioned before, the trophy looks like the Roman numeral 1, so this looked like LIV, and even though I knew it was LV, my brain simply can't process that what it's seeing isn't what it is.  I'm not sure what the solution is - maybe put the trophy behind the numbers?  But overall, I think the 'system' makes the patches look even more special.

[jc... 258]

There is ZERO need to have the trophy in the logo. 

[SCL 505]

31 minutes ago, BBTV said:

I'm a fan of the logo 'system'.  To me it makes more sense to commemorate your biggest game in a way that instantly conveys that the teams are playing for the trophy as opposed to some special event like a London game or any other game that has a special logo.

 

My nitpick with the 'system' is, as has been mentioned before, the trophy looks like the Roman numeral 1, so this looked like LIV, and even though I knew it was LV, my brain simply can't process that what it's seeing isn't what it is.  I'm not sure what the solution is - maybe put the trophy behind the numbers?  But overall, I think the 'system' makes the patches look even more special.

The unique logos were an important identifier of the importance of the Super Bowl and provided guide post in remembering past SB's. There is zero reason to apply the Larry O'Brien trophy treatment to the NFL, the SB is a level above and beyond the rest of American sports and should be treated as such.

[TBGKon 2,681]

I hope the branding system evolves.  You can have a system of common brand elements while allowing for individuality.

 

For the record, the OP’s post image screams placeholder.

[SumanCommaJake 4]

They used that same style logo from nflonlocation for the Packers conference champions shirt prior to SB XLV, so it’s definitely not the official logo thank god 

[Gothamite 24,459]

1 hour ago, jc... said:

There is ZERO need to have the trophy in the logo. 

 

Except that the trophy is instantly recognizable and iconic.

 

It would be malpractice NOT to incorporate the trophy.