Fresno Grizzlies new look

[eRay]

According to several sites, their website included, the Fresno Grizzlies are getting a new look, including pretty much everything. It was supposed to be shown off today at 12 noon, and I am not good at math or time zones, so maybe I am jumping the gun, but I haven't found anything anywhere yet. Any body have info on this? Thanks all.

[Brian in Boston]

The Freno grizzlies' new identity package was designed by Silverman Group.

[powersurge]

Wow.

That looks suspiciously like so many other logos with Bears in it. There's a thread on here that has a logo just like this one. I'll try to find it.

EDIT: here it is:

http://boards.sportslogos.net/index.php?showtopic=54569 (scroll down a bit and you'll see it)

[McCall]

I thought this was supposed to be the Fresno Grizzlies, not the Yakima Bears... or the Brown Bears... or every other team named Bears...

[TBGKon]

Didn't this team just change logos a few years ago? My guess is this change was sprung by the Giants to match-up their colors with their AAA team

[Brian in Boston]

Didn't this team just change logos a few years ago?

Three seasons ago, to be precise. Which means that the Grizzlies used their old logo for exactly the number of seasons manadated by MiLB's rules after making that switch.

My guess is this change was sprung by the Giants to match-up their colors with their AAA team.

The change was instigated by the Grizzlies, not the Giants. Why? Because, the previous color scheme and logos never caught-on with the public. Frankly, fans felt that the identity package was a poorly-conceived mish-mosh from the moment it was unveiled... and they were right.

In any event... the Grizzlies' White home unis are accented with Orange piping around the placket and sleeves of the jersey, as well as down the legs of the pants. The jersey features a custom "GRIZZLIES" font across the chest in Orange with a Black drop-shadow. The team's Black home cap is topped by an orange button and features an Orange "F Slash" logo, consisting of a stylized capital "F" which appears to have been slashed by a bear's claws. This logo is a modernization of the cap logo that the Grizzlies wore early in the franchise's history.

On the road, the team will wear traditional Gray uniforms with "FRESNO" across the chest in customized Black lettering. The road uniforms are accented with Orange piping around the placket and sleeves of the jersey, as well as down the legs of the pants. On the road unis, player numbers are affixed to the left torso of the jersey in Orange outlined in Black. The team's road cap is solid Black and features an Orange "FG" icon outlined in White, a contemporary spin on baseball's classic interlocking-letters cap logos.

The left sleeve of both the home and road jerseys is adorned by the Grizzlies' "Bear Slash" alternate logo. This appears to be a depiction of the bear from the team's new primary mark grasping and clawing a large baseball.

Fresno's Black alternate jerseys feature Orange piping around the placket and sleeves. A White "FG" icon outlined in Orange adorns the jersey's upper left chest area. The team's alternate cap is Black with an Orange visor and features a White "F Slash" icon outlined in Orange.

[Blackjack76]

What is going on this year? Outside of Trenton (Simon - major upgrade), Lancaster (Simon - definite upgrade) and Lehigh Valley (Plan B - not bad), all of the new designs are somewhere between "somewhat curious" (i.e. Plan B's Casper Ghosts) to "illegible" (Rickabaugh's 7isher Cats).

EDIT - Oops...was thinking of the Grizzlies when I typed this post...as for the Grizzlies...I like the modernization of the original logo package.

[Brian in Boston]

... (Silverman's 7isher Cats).

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats' new identity package was designed by Rickabaugh Graphics, not Silverman Group. Silverman Group is responsible for the Grizzlies' new identity package.

[KJTALBOT]

The change was instigated by the Grizzlies, not the Giants. Why? Because, the previous color scheme and logos never caught-on with the public. Frankly, fans felt that the identity package was a poorly-conceived mish-mosh from the moment it was unveiled... and they were right.

Bingo. I like outside the box thinking, but they were way out there.

Their new identity is a 100% improvement. Very well done.

[IronChefShark]

Yes, they look MUCH better now. Its a plus to establish a connection to the parent club Giants, not to mention that thier previous color scheme was just horrible. I can actually go and get a hat now.

Now, if Fresno just became the Giants' California League A affiliate and then San Jose can be home to thier PCL AAA affiliate....but thats another subject.

[cward]

Obviously the owners can do as they like, but since its the business of branding that we're talking about, then this is a definate downgrade.

It seems in this case that the owners would rather have a logo that falls comfortably into the category of generic, simply so it makes sense when ppl see it for the first time...'hey, a bear holding home plate, ive seen that before with other teams...brown, newark bears, baylor, yakima, cornell...duh, a sports team named grizzlies'...as opposed to building an identity around a concept that was creative, original, and unique to the Fresno region and the Grizzlies.

A package that features a one-of-a-kind color combo (cedar brown, gold, pine green, and orange), monogram baseball pennants and a custom grizzly all rendered in a way to mimic stained-glass windows that are historically famous in the Fresno region...now THAT is branding.

Looking back now, it may have been TOO creative and unique for the team and its fans, but it was a solid package nonetheless. I just wish owners (and fans for that matter) would stop getting caught up in trendy marks and recognize the value of a designer taking a much more creative and 'deep' approach...turning alot more heads if its something the consumer has never been exposed to before.

[Joshawaggie]

wow, first N.H now this? They both only lasted 3 years?

[KCScout76]

[oddball]

Obviously the owners can do as they like, but since its the business of branding that we're talking about, then this is a definate downgrade.

It seems in this case that the owners would rather have a logo that falls comfortably into the category of generic, simply so it makes sense when ppl see it for the first time...'hey, a bear holding home plate, ive seen that before with other teams...brown, newark bears, baylor, yakima, cornell...duh, a sports team named grizzlies'...as opposed to building an identity around a concept that was creative, original, and unique to the Fresno region and the Grizzlies.

A package that features a one-of-a-kind color combo (cedar brown, gold, pine green, and orange), monogram baseball pennants and a custom grizzly all rendered in a way to mimic stained-glass windows that are historically famous in the Fresno region...now THAT is branding.

Looking back now, it may have been TOO creative and unique for the team and its fans, but it was a solid package nonetheless. I just wish owners (and fans for that matter) would stop getting caught up in trendy marks and recognize the value of a designer taking a much more creative and 'deep' approach...turning alot more heads if its something the consumer has never been exposed to before.

You can brand something all you want and think it's the greatest job in the world, but if merchandise is collecting dust on the shelves and not moving, then you've done a horrible job. I hate to break it to people, but if a team's merchandise is not moving, then it's going to change. I don't care how much you make like something, it's not those of us on the outside that matter to the teams, it's the ones that fill the seats and if they aren't buying it, then you've lost a huge amount of your customer base. Don't forget also that it's not just in park sales that will lag, but also in the local department stores and Target and Wal-Mart, if it's not moving then the team's going to hear about it and not like the results.

[Blackjack76]

A good friend of mine pointed this out, so I am not taking credit for what I am about to type...but does anyone else think it is odd for the same set of designers to develop two bear-related logo packages the same year (Yakima and Fresno)?

This was either a really easy process (create a set of logos, if one didn't like it, try it with the other...but I highly doubt this was the case), or really, painfully hard (separating the two).

With that said, there are just so many variations you can do with bear-centric logos: slashed letters, black/brown dominant colors, large bear hovering over wordmarks, etc.

This new wordmark really is a modernization of the original logo set...and I am in the camp of at least the AAA affiliate having some resemblance to its parent club, so I am totally onboard with the use of the Giants' core colors.

The cap is simple and sharp. My one annoyance with this package is the use of Eurostile in the primary logo. I mean seriously...you couldn't even alter a small bit of it to make it look customized?

All in all, an upgrade, but still behind the already-unveiled redesigns of Trenton and Lancaster.

[patsox]

Awwww...he looks constipated.

[Brian in Boston]

A good friend of mine pointed this out, so I am not taking credit for what I am about to type...but does anyone else think it is odd for the same set of designers to develop two bear-related logo packages the same year (Yakima and Fresno)?

It goes with the territory. There are a finite number of graphic design firms with a national reputation for doing this type of work on behalf of sports clients (Joe Bosack Graphic Design Co., Phoenix Design, Plan B. Branding, Rickabaugh Graphics, SME Branding, Studio Simon and, yes, Silverman Group, spring to mind). There is competition to land clients, so if a firm is approached by one of them with a project, said firm is not going to turn the work away simply because it involves creating a branding package that revolves around the same mascot that another client is already using.

This was either a really easy process (create a set of logos, if one didn't like it, try it with the other...but I highly doubt this was the case), or really, painfully hard (separating the two).

I'm sure the particulars of just how "easy" or "hard" it was to differentiate between these two brand packages depends a great deal on how Silverman Group is set-up creatively. Is it a large firm? If so, completely separate designers/teams may have worked on the two projects largely oblivious to what each was doing, with senior management insuring that the two identity packages didn't stray too close to one another. Is it a smaller firm, where all designers pitch-in on a project throughout the process? If that's the case, perhaps similar design elements were vetted for both projects early on, with client preference playing the significant role in determining which path their logo package took to completion. In any event, the leading firms that specialize in sports branding have been down this road enough times to effectively deal with achieving such a feat as a matter of routine.

With that said, there are just so many variations you can do with bear-centric logos: slashed letters, black/brown dominant colors, large bear hovering over wordmarks, etc.

And creatively dealing with such pre-conceived limitations is where a graphic design firm earns its fee. Personally, when comparing the Fresno and Yakima identity packages, I feel that the Grizzlies got the better of the deal. I find the mascot in their logos to be much more "dynamic" than the bear that is featured in the Yakima marks. In fact, the only Yakima logo that really blows me away is the alternate logo that features the interlocking Silver "Y" and Red "B" being gripped by a bear's paw.

[leedsunited]

Yet another long-limbed bear slapping his ugly paws on the wordmark. Yeeeeeesh. This is getting outrageous.

BTW, that is one smug bear. He's just wishing for a beatdown with that expression.

[BallWonk]

All I can see so far on the Grizzlies site are the new caps, and if they're indication, this is a definite downgrade. I may have been the only person who truly liked the previous Fresno uniforms, though not all of the design risks succeeded. (Mainly, the off-center cap logo was a step too far, and the team needed a little more focus and discipline in the execution of its jerseys.) This new logo, and the new caps, make me think the team should have just changed its name to the Fresno Generic Minor League Team Circa 1998s and been done with it.

If Fresno thinks its current merchandise is gathering dust, just wait until they watch the shelf-sitting abilities of their new caps. It's a black cap! With an orange F! With generic animal claw marks obscuring the F! You know, like all the cool kids are wearing in, um ... oh, right. No cool kids anywhere are wearing anything like this, and by focusing so much on the F and FG cap logos, they've made uniforms that probably can't work as little-league uniforms, either. The old set at least had going for it some elements, such as the bear-head alternate cap, that could have made real inroads into the youth-team-outfitting market, given some savvy in the front office.

Not that anything I've seen so far is bad. It's just that neither is it any good, and for a team at this level the failure to suck isn't good enough.

[eRay]

first off, thanks for finding it first whoever did.

A couple problems I have with this, just technically...they use that "almost black" on most of the logo, but the baseball and triangle under it are outlined in "real black", just threw me off. Also, the claws just look off to me, like they aren't connected, or at the right angle. something about them just says "I'm wrong". No comments need to be made about the generic, just like other bear logos, underdeveloped wordmark, changing just to change, boring, etc... parts of the logo. You guys are doing just fine.