Northwest Arkansas Naturals

[McCall]

Here is a bigger version.

Ahh, City Block Font. THAT'S what Phoenix is famous for.

I don't think I've ever seen so much going on in one sports teams logo. BTW, Tom Kayser, President of the Texas League, is at the game here in Springfield. My manager went out to his car to see the new logo. She was trying to find me, but I was busy running around... working... something she knows nothing about. That may be why she had time to go out and see the logo. And she knows absolutely nothing about baseball, too.

[ohryan]

Why don't they just call them the "Wal-Marts?" Everybody knows there wasn't a darn thing going on in Northwest Arkansas until WM got there. What are they going to have? Rollback nights where your $2.00 hotdog costs $1.91? Free nachos (from China) for only $1.50? Wear blue and get in for half price $2.50? I imagine this team turning into the "Junior Royals" very soon. It won't be long until we are rootin for them to stay out of the Texas League cellar!

[Blackjack76]

What are they going to have? Rollback nights where your $2.00 hotdog costs $1.91?

Awesome. Funniest promo suggestion I have heard in quite some time. And don't think for a second they won't do it.

[Brian in Boston]

And what did Wichita do to deserve to lose its ballclub? If a city in Kansas is cool enough to play a prominent role in great songs by Soul Coughing and the White Stripes, it ought to be cool enough to have a baseball team.

Well, apparently residents of Wichita have been at home listening to Soul Coughing and the White Stripes, because they haven't been at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in adequate enough numbers over the past ten seasons to convince team owner Bob Rich to continue operating a Texas League franchise in the Kansas community.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Wichita Wranglers have been bottom-dwellers in Texas League attendance for the better part of a decade, finishing either last or second-to-last in the category every season since 1997. Last season, the team drew 177,758 fans to 6,400-seat Lawrence Dumont Stadium - a per-game average of 2,539 fans... and that represented an increase over recent years.

Bottom line? The Wranglers ranked third behind the Wichita State University Shockers and the National Baseball Congress World Series in the hearts, minds and - most importantly - pockets of local baseball enthusiasts. That wasn't good enough.

[Gothamite]

Last season, the team drew 177,758 fans to 6,400-seat Lawrence Dumont Stadium - a per-game average of 2,539 fans... and that represented an increase over recent years.

Ouch. That's a good reason to move a ballclub.

[Ez Street]

And what did Wichita do to deserve to lose its ballclub? If a city in Kansas is cool enough to play a prominent role in great songs by Soul Coughing and the White Stripes, it ought to be cool enough to have a baseball team.

Well, apparently residents of Wichita have been at home listening to Soul Coughing and the White Stripes, because they haven't been at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in adequate enough numbers over the past ten seasons to convince team owner Bob Rich to continue operating a Texas League franchise in the Kansas community.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Wichita Wranglers have been bottom-dwellers in Texas League attendance for the better part of a decade, finishing either last or second-to-last in the category every season since 1997. Last season, the team drew 177,758 fans to 6,400-seat Lawrence Dumont Stadium - a per-game average of 2,539 fans... and that represented an increase over recent years.

Bottom line? The Wranglers ranked third behind the Wichita State University Shockers and the National Baseball Congress World Series in the hearts, minds and - most importantly - pockets of local baseball enthusiasts. That wasn't good enough.

Couldn't have said it better.

BTW, what is BiB's opinion of the new logo?

[Brian in Boston]

Couldn't have said it better.

BTW, what is BiB's opinion of the new logo?

With the exception of the twin motion-lines trailing the baseball, I feel that the individual components of the logo are well-rendered.

That said, with a name like Naturals, my gut instinct would have been to pay primary tribute to Bernard Malamud's novel and the motion picture that it inspired. However, this would have begged the question of just how far team management and the graphic designers could go in doing so before needing to clear the finished identity package with the estate of Bernard Malamud and/or TriStar Pictures. Still, given the status of both the literary work and the film, I would have made every effort to focus the team's identity package around images of an iconic, "old-timey" ballplayer - ironically, not unlike those created for the 2007 Texas League All-Star Game. In fact, a combination of the ballplayer from the 2007 Texas League All-Star Game logo with a Naturals wordmark containing the lightning-bolt "N", all rendered in the Navy, Orange and White of the New York Knights... that would have made for an outstanding logo.

Obviously, team management chose to play up the "nature's beauty" angle, while coyly giving a nod to the novel and film with the inclusion of a Wonderboy-esque lightning bolt in the wordmark. In this way, if pressed on the matter by the Malamud estate or Tri-Star, the team could simply say that lightning is a natural occuring phenomenon. The problem with this approach is that once you name a baseball team the Naturals, the public is inevitably going to make a connection to the novel and/or film. Given the prominence of the nature imagery, I think a rather jarring juxtaposition is created between what most baseball fans expect the team's logo imagery should be and what it actually is.

Further, if you're going to play up the "nature's beauty" theme, I think that the team palette should be Blue, Green, Gold and White, rather than Blue, Red, Gold and White.

I also think that given the focus on the nature theme, the upper right-hand corner of the logo would have been better served by containing a depiction of a stand of trees, rather than the swooshing baseball. In that way, a full breadth of Arkansas' natural resources would have been illustrated - mountains, forests and waterways. If it was felt that a baseball absolutely had to figure into the logo, have the lightning bolt in the "N" striking said ball.

All in all, I don't believe that team management took the time to think through what they were trying to achieve by naming this team the Naturals. As a result, they went to the graphic design firm with a mixed message as to what they were trying to communicate (some bastard mix of Roy Hobbs' Wonderboy and the natural splendor of Northwest Arkansas), resulting in a jumbled, overly busy logo.

[STL FANATIC]

I have a feeling everything but the primary is gonna end up good with this set.

Sure there's an extra outline or two, but the script and N(A) are fantastic. It sets up nicely for uniforms.

They just went overboard in the logo.

[Gothamite]

I cannot agree. The whole thing is a mess, including the wordmark.

The basic idea isn't too bad, and the cap logo shows promise, but between the goofy beveling and the low-contrast color scheme, it just doesn't work.

[leshii]

I cannot agree. The whole thing is a mess, including the wordmark.

The basic idea isn't too bad, and the cap logo shows promise, but between the goofy beveling and the low-contrast color scheme, it just doesn't work.

My biggest problem with the logo is the lightning bolt. I like the nod to the Natural but for some reason that lightning looks off.

I do like how it appears to create an "A" in there but that's not enough to save the wordmark.

[McCall]

Why the hell does the baseball have 2 jetstreams, anyway? Did they just really wanna create that asscrack look at the side? Perverted Mofos.

[thinkkre8tiv]

http://www.cidoc.net/003091.html

Cough*Crap*Cough

Naturals Unveil New Logo

by Kurt Voigt

Springdale's future minor league baseball team is building its home ? and on Tuesday it got a face to go with the stadium.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals, in front of more than 100 at the Tyson Park Pavilion, unveiled the team's logo. It was as designed around a theme of natural waterfalls in the area.

?This is the announcement that we feel gives life to the franchise,? said Eric Edelstein, the Naturals general manager. ?This is our identity that is being revealed.?

The logo was designed by graphic designer James Skiles of Phoenix Design Works in New York City. Phoenix Design currently has five logos in use in Major League Baseball, but the Naturals was the first for a minor league franchise.

?It's another step in the process of moving the team here, and everyone is excited about the future,? Texas League President Tom Kayser said of the logo. (?)

[Gothamite]

The logo was designed by graphic designer James Skiles of Phoenix Design Works in New York City. Phoenix Design currently has five logos in use in Major League Baseball, but the Naturals was the first for a minor league franchise.

Five logos in use?

http://www.phoenixdesignworks.com/mlb.html

Two teams (Rockies and Marlins), the old Reds scheme... and what else?

[apeman33]

The black and white version of the logo on that PDF looks better than the color one. I guess that means I don't dig the color scheme. The red doesn't seem necessary. The hats are OK. I'd probably get one if the make them in a halfway comfy 7 5/8ths

Ozark Naturals might have been a better name, after the region. But perhaps the team was afraid no one would know where that was, although I do think most people do know.

[McCall]

The black and white version of the logo on that PDF looks better than the color one. I guess that means I don't dig the color scheme. The red doesn't seem necessary. The hats are OK. I'd probably get one if the make them in a halfway comfy 7 5/8ths

Ozark Naturals might have been a better name, after the region. But perhaps the team was afraid no one would know where that was, although I do think most people do know.

Most people would associate Ozark with us, especially since the town of Ozark is only about 5 miles south of Springfield, and they used to have the Ozark (later Springfield/Ozark) Mountain Ducks (later just Ducks) of the Texas-Louisiana League and then the Frontier League.

[BallWonk]

Ozark Naturals might have been a better name, after the region. But perhaps the team was afraid no one would know where that was, although I do think most people do know.

I would bet money that if you conducted a nationwide test, more Americans would know roughly where the Ozarks are than could find northwest Arkansas on a map of the nation.

[leopard88]

Ozark Naturals might have been a better name, after the region. But perhaps the team was afraid no one would know where that was, although I do think most people do know.

I would bet money that if you conducted a nationwide test, more Americans would know roughly where the Ozarks are than could find northwest Arkansas on a map of the nation.

True, but even though I can find NW Arkansas, I would assume that a team named Ozark was based in Missouri if you made me guess.

BTW, if they went the Ozark route, they should have gone with Ozark Mountain Daredevils. -- for the small group of you who will know what I mean.

[McCall]

Ozark Naturals might have been a better name, after the region. But perhaps the team was afraid no one would know where that was, although I do think most people do know.

I would bet money that if you conducted a nationwide test, more Americans would know roughly where the Ozarks are than could find northwest Arkansas on a map of the nation.

True, but even though I can find NW Arkansas, I would assume that a team named Ozark was based in Missouri if you made me guess.

BTW, if they went the Ozark route, they should have gone with Ozark Mountain Daredevils. -- for the small group of you who will know what I mean.

Yeah, but they were from Springfield. So it would be odd to name your team after a band from another city that is in your league/division.

[leopard88]

Yeah, but they were from Springfield. So it would be odd to name your team after a band from another city that is in your league/division.

That is something I did not know. I've just always loved that name for some reason.

[apeman33]

The black and white version of the logo on that PDF looks better than the color one. I guess that means I don't dig the color scheme. The red doesn't seem necessary. The hats are OK. I'd probably get one if the make them in a halfway comfy 7 5/8ths

Ozark Naturals might have been a better name, after the region. But perhaps the team was afraid no one would know where that was, although I do think most people do know.

Most people would associate Ozark with us, especially since the town of Ozark is only about 5 miles south of Springfield, and they used to have the Ozark (later Springfield/Ozark) Mountain Ducks (later just Ducks) of the Texas-Louisiana League and then the Frontier League.

Oops. Forgot about the Mountain Ducks. Whatever happened to them? I presume they had to move when the Cardinals came in.