Baltimore Blackhawks

[Patriot54]

This concept came from a message board topic about another AFL team in Washington, DC. So I got to thinking about what a Baltimore AFL team would be like.

Of course I suck at drawing stuff like that, so this is just another redone logo. It's a Washington Federals logo with Baltimore Ravens colors. The logo with the new colors seems to work though. It brings together both cities into one concept. The name Blackhawks is associated with Indians (Redskins connection) and the Blackhawk helicopter (military/government connection). Plus a raven and a black hawk are sort of similar I guess.

PS - the purple came out more on the blue side after I Photobucketized the picture.

[VitaminD]

Mixed bag for me.

On the positive, the concept looks nice and is well-rendered. These could be worn by a team.

However, the rationale for the concept bothers me.

Firstly, what makes you think Baltimore and Washington want to be associated with each other in the first place? Baltimore supported the Colts for years even with the Redskins 30 miles away, and now support the Ravens with the same passion. The baseball fans in DC quickly took to the Nationals, even though the Orioles have been just a short drive away for decades and the Senators left town in the early 1970s. The only person of influence who still wants to see the two cities lumped together for sports seems to be Peter Angelos, who militantly insists that "Baltimore" not be written across the Orioles' road jerseys, as if that will make people think there isn't another team playing baseball nearby.

Secondly, everything about this for a Baltimore football team is too derivative. The bird mascot, the colors (both the palette and how you used them - black helmet, purple jersey, gold trim) does nothing to help the AFL team develop any sort of unique personality or identity. They'd be seen as Junior Ravens and would always be in their shadow. Most AFL teams have no connection to the NFL club in the same city - different colors, styles, mascots.

Thirdly, you're asking the nickname to serve triple duty, and it's stretched too thin. It is at once a tie-in to Washington's football team (in Baltimore no less), the military (though no helicopter imagery is used, making the connection tenuous at best) and birds. So what is the nickname - a bird, an Indian or a helicopter? Can't be all 3...

It's nicely done, and it's ambitious, but it strikes me as misguided. Trying to appeal to everybody predestines you appeal to nobody.

[Patriot54]

I see what you're getting at VitaminD, except for one thing. I don't think an AFL team being associated with their NFL counterpart is necessarily a bad thing. The Desperados are just like the Cowboys in terms of uniforms, logo, etc. The Colorado Crush have similar colors to the Broncos and are owned by a former Bronco. The Chicago Rush use navy blue and white (Bears throwback colors) and are owned by Ditka. Also, it was rumored that the Washington AFL team would use a Redskins throwback logo and uniforms. And many NFL teams scout players from their AFL counterparts and vice versa - Jets-Dragons, Buccaneers-Predators, Eagles-Soul, etc.

I don't think EVERY team should be an NFL copy - that would make the AFL too minor-leagueish. But those teams that do have the connection are among the most popular teams in the AFL.

Anyway, I'm glad you like the visual aspect of the concept. And I like the idea of bringing back logos from defunct football leagues, but the color scheme and the city could change......maybe the Boston Blackhawks?

[EJ_Barlik]

I actually like the idea, but the critique mentioned above is valid. You might get a little farther by "updating the logo" a llittle bit, or even changing it to the Blackhawk helicopter as mentioned earlier. Colors are OK to a point, but the dark/dark/gold thing is getting overused (Ravens, for one). Only team I saw who pulled it off well was the London Monarchs in 1991/92 in the WLAF with their Red/Blue/Gold. For some reason, red doesn't come across as a dark color on jersies. Don't know why.

Maybe an Orange/Royal Purple/Gold (& White) combo might work?