Minor/Independent/Collegiate League Baseball Logo/Uniform Changes

[monkeypower]

Here's a model displaying their new hat.

 

 

And what do you mean by perspective?

[Sykotyk]

Way, way, way too much going on with that "LOGGERS" wordmark on the log.

 

There's black drop shadow to make it look like it's raised off the log. Then you have a dark green border. A white inner border. A gradient green to make it look like it's wrapping around the log. And THEN there's the lighter dark green to act as a bevel for the inside (only the inside) of the white outline.  Wow. And the worst part is the gradient meant to make it look like the word is bending around the log fails because the log stays the same color nowhere where it's positioned. Why use shadow affects with lots of colors if the log and everything else is basically shadowless?..... Except for him and HIS FREAKING BEARD.

 

Seriously? His right arm isn't shadowed by his head but his beard is casting a huge shadow on his arm and his arm is casting a huge shadow on the log. You know how uncomfortable a position he'd have to be in to cast those shadows on his upper arm and the log? He'd basically be laying down with his feet directly behind his head, with the arm and elbow hanging lower.

 

And what's with every mascot having to swing stuff like a bat? C'mon people. Be creative.

[andrewharrington]

6 hours ago, B-Rich said:

 

Now you're just reaching. 

 

"There's a lot of background research into the names".   As I posted back in 2016 when the name was announced, from a local newspaper article that quoted directly from the Brandiose guys, they were here barely 2 DAYS doing on-the-ground research.   And to say, "specifically Baby Cakes would only work in New Orleans" is flat out wrong.  It doesn't even work IN New Orleans.  Brandiose and the out-of-town owners stated that they DERIVED the name; it is NOT even a real thing (the local term is and has always been "king cake baby").  They stated in their finalist name descriptions that a king cake baby "was sought after",  while New Orleanians know the exact OPPOSITE is true-- you don't want the piece with the baby, because by tradition then you have to buy the next cake.  Swallowing the baby or not owning up to getting the piece with the baby is even a long-running joke around here.

 

Not knowing these things is the kind of "lot of background research" these guys do.  That's why 91% of respondents in an online poll after the name was announced HATED the name.

 

These guys were so clueless that another one of their finalist names was "Red Eyes" for crawfish, despite the fact that (a) Crawfish do not have red eyes, and (b) NO ONE HERE HAS EVER CALLED THEM THAT.

 

 

 

It's relevant because this was the point of the name change all along.  Nothing to do with building local interest, or picking a name that locals would go for, it was a short-term cash grab, which the owners essentially even admitted to. 

 

Minor league merch-- just like MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL merch-- is now sold all over the country, so they came up with the most 'whimsical' "cute' 'silly' (stupid)  name that would sell the most merch nationwide-- not to locals in New Orleans, 91% of whom disapprove of it and who see the name as a joke-- but to the many more people in places like Atlanta, Tampa Bay, New York, Boise, etc. who want to wear something cute and recent and 'out there'.

 

4 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

 

Well, then the quality of the background research being done isn't up to snuff. If it were, someone would have realized that "Baby Cakes" doesn't truly "work" in New Orleans, as the cultural icon being referenced is actually a King Cake, not a Baby Cake.

Either that, or - as is more likely - someone decided that King Cakes wasn't a goofy enough name to lend itself to an over-the-top logo package. So, it was then decided that in order to justify the creation of a goofy logo with attitude, the idea of a king cake would be mashed-up with the idea of the baby figurine baked into said confection and the bastardized "Baby Cakes" identity was reverse-engineered.

In short, there's a reason the name New Orleans Baby Cakes hasn't been "around since 1930": it doesn't mean anything within the culture of the New Orleans marketplace.  

 

There are some good discussion topics here:

 

Being able to travel to do research is a luxury, and you often pay for that out of your own pocket. If you’re taking research trips, it means you’re taking your job seriously, literally spending your own money in order to do a better job. And yes, you can learn a lot in two days.

 

If you’re committed to naming your team after a religious pastry, why does the team need to be exactly the name of the actual thing? Why not use some creative license to make the name a little catchier? I’d argue that Baby Cakes is a better sounding name than King Cakes (which is a bit clunky), and debate the nationwide marketing approach if you’d like, but given that approach, I’d say Baby Cakes is the better name. It’s simply more recognizable and familiar to people as a fringe-level term of endearment, meaning it’s inclusively marketing those who don’t know what a king cake is (which is probably a lot of people outside the Gulf Coast region). If you do know what a king cake is, I think it’s pretty easy to draw the line from Baby Cakes to, “Oh! They’re talking about a king cake.” I mean they’re called crawfish, but you could probably figure out what I was talking about if I said mud bug or swamp lobster.

 

Lastly, I’ve always gotten the impression that it’s good luck to find the baby. You get the crown and you’re “king for the day” or whatever. Sure, you’re chosen to supply the next cake, but I’ve never met someone from the south who *didn’t* want to cook for you or host a party.  Ive even seen people with collections of various cake figurines, so I’d say “sought after” accurately describes the cake babies in some circles.

[CubsFanBudMan]

The Clinton LumberKings noticed.

 

 

 

[poser]

20 hours ago, Gothamite said:

The LaCrosse (WI) Loggers have a “refreshed” logo. 

 

 

Shame about the 90s extreme perspective.

 

Here’s what they’re calling their “icon” logo, which I guess means a cap logo. 

 

 

that one might not be so bad, if the two elements looked like they were part of the same design.  Here’s an example where adding perspective would have helped. 

 

 

Found his dad

 

 

 

 

[Wings]

On 1/12/2019 at 10:58 AM, the admiral said:

It would be so Brandiose to take a landlocked state that's just a big rectangle of grain and say "no we're doin' fish"

 

Wichita Wheat Threshers with a shark dressed in overalls riding a tractor. 

[B-Rich]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 12:26 AM, andrewharrington said:

...why does the team need to be exactly the name of the actual thing? Why not use some creative license to make the name a little catchier? I’d argue that Baby Cakes is a better sounding name than King Cakes (which is a bit clunky), and debate the nationwide marketing approach if you’d like, but given that approach, I’d say Baby Cakes is the better name. It’s simply more recognizable and familiar to people as a fringe-level term of endearment, meaning it’s inclusively marketing those who don’t know what a king cake is (which is probably a lot of people outside the Gulf Coast region). If you do know what a king cake is, I think it’s pretty easy to draw the line from Baby Cakes to, “Oh! They’re talking about a king cake.” I mean they’re called crawfish, but you could probably figure out what I was talking about if I said mud bug or swamp lobster.

 

While "Baby Cakes" is certainly less 'clunky' than "King Cake Babies" (and there is no doubt, THAT is the prime focus of the imagery, a king cake baby), 'Baby Cakes' is just as 'clunky' as 'King Cakes'.

 

You're basically agreeing to my point-- that the owners and Brandiose came up with this monstrosity to market not to the locals, but nationwide.  There is nothing 'authentic' about the name whatsoever, no matter how much Mardi Gras imagery you stick on it; and the name is a slap in the face to locals.  And while I agree that it is easy to draw the line from Baby Cakes to "Oh, they're talking about a king cake baby", you miss that the immediate extension of that line, from locals young and old is "what the f...? Why would they even DO that?"

 

Oh, and re: crawfish and 'mudbugs', sure. That's a common nickname.  Long time name of a Shreveport's hockey team.  But 'swamp lobsters' would be seen as what it is, a completely made-up and original contrivance (though a better fit than Brandiose's "Red Eyes')

 

 

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 12:26 AM, andrewharrington said:

Lastly, I’ve always gotten the impression that it’s good luck to find the baby. You get the crown and you’re “king for the day” or whatever. Sure, you’re chosen to supply the next cake, but I’ve never met someone from the south who *didn’t* want to cook for you or host a party.  Ive even seen people with collections of various cake figurines, so I’d say “sought after” accurately describes the cake babies in some circles.

 

Well, your impressions are wrong, and a little lackadaisical. "You get the crown and you're 'king for the day' or whatever".   What's this crown crap?... Ain't no crowns involved in king cake, and no 'king of the day'.  And while we Southerners (and particularly South Louisianans) ARE great hosts, the king cake routine is nothing like that-- cakes are typically brought into office break rooms for workers to nosh on all day, or kids bring them to school to share, etc. And whoever gets the piece with the baby gets the next one.... if a king cake is at any party, or on a folding table on the parade route, they have about as much attention as the cheese dip, Popeye's chicken or mini-muffaletta trays.

 

And you are right about there being commemorative 'cake figurines', but those are different and separate from the king cake babies.  King cake babies are cheap plastic things that are stuffed into (or under) a warm cake:

 

The commemorative figurines, however, are porcelain, not plastic; are made by ONE bakery in town (Haydel's); come in their own separate Ziploc package OUTSIDE OF THE CAKE in addition to the baby inside the cake; always represent some aspect of Mardi Gras and New Orleans; and a different one is produced every year.   And yeah, my family does have a collection of those commemorative figurines which we display and add to every year.

 

Whenever you can come on down to New Orleans, give me a holler-- I'll show you what it's ALL about.

 

[Cosmic]

I’d wager money that “Baby Cakes” happened because googling “New Orleans King Cakes” would likely always lead to recipes, news stories, bakeries that will ship them, etc. about the actual cakes even if the baseball team was called “King Cakes” today. Naming them Baby Cakes gets someone to the MiLB shop faster through a search engine. Not that I like it (agree with @B-Rich even though my first time ever in Louisiana will be Saturday), but I bet that’s why it happened.

[Brian in Boston]

18 hours ago, andrewharrington said:

I’ve always gotten the impression that it’s good luck to find the baby. Ive even seen people with collections of various cake figurines, so I’d say “sought after” accurately describes the cake babies in some circles.

If team management and the folks at Brandiose were so hellbent on drawing upon a Mardi Gras tradition in their efforts to rebrand New Orleans' Triple A baseball franchise, why not just dub the team the New Orleans Cake Babies? Why, instead, opt to go with a name - Baby Cakes - which, as you point out, is "simply more recognizable and familiar to people as a fringe-level term of endearment" to people outside of the team's home market?

Now, quite obviously, the decision was made in the hopes of maximizing revenue-generation via souvenir sales to as widespread a consumer audience as possible. Unfortunately, in chasing the almighty dollar, a cultural hallmark of New Orleans was bastardized in order to make it more palatable to those consumers who live well outside the municipality.

Therein, to my mind, lies the problem with the modern age of minor league sports branding and souvenir sales. Yes, teams are willing to invest more time, effort, and cold, hard cash into creatively branding themselves. Yes, teams are festooning an ever-growing variety of licensed products with their brands. Why? In order to generate significant revenue by selling the s**t out of said products. However, to truly maximize revenue, teams are feeling driven to adopt identities that are increasingly outlandish... and, in many cases, targeted towards a national (indeed, potentially international) audience, rather than the fans in their own home market.

On the one hand, as a sports branding enthusiast and someone who relishes the opportunity to purchase memorabilia emblazoned with well-designed logos, I have reason to celebrate these developments. On the other, I lament the fact that it often seems as though teams - and the branding professionals they hire - are increasingly less interested in catering to the tastes/preferences of hometown fans, than they are in making a splash with the creation of the next over-the-top, "something-for-everyone" team identity.                       

[Cosmic]

@Brian in Boston Cake Babies gets shortened to “Babies”; Baby Cakes gets shortened to “Cakes”.

[nash61]

2 hours ago, Wings said:

 

Wichita Wheat Threshers with a shark dressed in overalls riding a tractor. 

Or just make the thresher/tractor the thing with the teeth.

 

http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/11/438/full/l9z9hmyfxpoegom3djmhbevuu.gif

[THRILLHO]

New Orleans Baby Cakes

 

[Cosmic]

30 minutes ago, THRILLHO said:

New Orleans Baby Cakes

 

If that cake was sleeping on its back, it might still be in one piece today. 

 

Parenting joke FTW

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

21 hours ago, andrewharrington said:

why does the team need to be exactly the name of the actual thing? Why not use some creative license to make the name a little catchier?

 

 

[B-Rich]

6 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

 

that, and what we had about 20-25 years ago with the minor keague hockey explosion:

 

ice gators

ice bats

ice pilots

ice dogs

ice cats

ice hogs

ice bears

ice hawks

ice pirates

 

I swear, I wanted to have a team called the ice monkeys.

[mightynine]

I don't have any first-hand knowledge, but I've always figured they couldn't find a way to trademark or copyright King Cakes as a baseball name, so they went with Baby Cakes instead

[SportsLogos.Net News]

La Crosse Loggers launch latest logos, Louie

January 17, 2019 - 14:14 PM

The La Crosse Loggers, a Wisconsin-based collegiate summer team in the Northwoods League, unveiled their first rebrand since the team debuted in 2003. The new suite of logos, designed by Tony Horning, includes a primary logo featuring plaid-clad mascot Louie […]

Read More...

[mcrosby]

The new logoset: 

 

and the concept I did. 

[andrewharrington]

On 1/16/2019 at 3:45 PM, B-Rich said:

 

While "Baby Cakes" is certainly less 'clunky' than "King Cake Babies" (and there is no doubt, THAT is the prime focus of the imagery, a king cake baby), 'Baby Cakes' is just as 'clunky' as 'King Cakes'.

 

You're basically agreeing to my point-- that the owners and Brandiose came up with this monstrosity to market not to the locals, but nationwide.  There is nothing 'authentic' about the name whatsoever, no matter how much Mardi Gras imagery you stick on it; and the name is a slap in the face to locals.  And while I agree that it is easy to draw the line from Baby Cakes to "Oh, they're talking about a king cake baby", you miss that the immediate extension of that line, from locals young and old is "what the f...? Why would they even DO that?"

 

Oh, and re: crawfish and 'mudbugs', sure. That's a common nickname.  Long time name of a Shreveport's hockey team.  But 'swamp lobsters' would be seen as what it is, a completely made-up and original contrivance (though a better fit than Brandiose's "Red Eyes')

 

 

 

Well, your impressions are wrong, and a little lackadaisical. "You get the crown and you're 'king for the day' or whatever".   What's this crown crap?... Ain't no crowns involved in king cake, and no 'king of the day'.  And while we Southerners (and particularly South Louisianans) ARE great hosts, the king cake routine is nothing like that-- cakes are typically brought into office break rooms for workers to nosh on all day, or kids bring them to school to share, etc. And whoever gets the piece with the baby gets the next one.... if a king cake is at any party, or on a folding table on the parade route, they have about as much attention as the cheese dip, Popeye's chicken or mini-muffaletta trays.

 

And you are right about there being commemorative 'cake figurines', but those are different and separate from the king cake babies.  King cake babies are cheap plastic things that are stuffed into (or under) a warm cake:

 

The commemorative figurines, however, are porcelain, not plastic; are made by ONE bakery in town (Haydel's); come in their own separate Ziploc package OUTSIDE OF THE CAKE in addition to the baby inside the cake; always represent some aspect of Mardi Gras and New Orleans; and a different one is produced every year.   And yeah, my family does have a collection of those commemorative figurines which display and add to every year.

 

Whenever you can come on down to New Orleans, give me a holler-- I'll show you what it's ALL about.

 

 

Thanks for the rundown. Very informative. I think I heard about the crown and “king for the day” custom from a college friend. Maybe it was his family tradition or something. Most of the documentation I can find on the subject of finding the baby, however, does paint it in a positive light, the only negative aspect, as you said, is having to bring the next one.

 

Additionally, I totally understand not being on board with the concept of national marketing for a regional team, but given that’s obviously the goal for teams that are branding themselves in this manner, I still contend that Baby Cakes works better in the pursuit of that goal. It piques the curiosity of outsiders who aren’t familiar with the king cake tradition, which is a good move when trying to increase the reach of your brand. For better or worse, it engages (some) people to think, “What a silly name. I gotta check this out.” Then, before you know it, it’s, “OMG their logo is an angry king baby breaking out of a pastry! How outrageous! Take my money.”

[SportsLogos.Net News]

Daytona Tortugas to open season with Hangover Night

January 18, 2019 - 14:32 PM

Baseball fans get pretty antsy around this time of year. The offseason seems like it’s never going to end, the free agent market hasn’t brought us the big splashes we’ve been waiting for, and most of the minor league rebrands […]

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