Behind the Patriots logo

[rtrich11]

Oh by the way here's the piece that was on KABC 7 in Los Angeles:

. Tell me if it sounds like anyone's complaining about how much they got paid.

In this video they show the sketch! It has no chin, is a bit rough, but that's the baby there. I think the hat in the sketch is almost better as a representative of the Revolutionary era hat. The current hat is so big and to me looks a bit like a Russian fur hat. Overall a good evolution.

Also shown are some uni sketches and you can clearly see the one they picked to start the new Patriot era.

[andrewharrington]

Just because someone is a graphic designer also doesn't mean their opinion counts more than anyone else because they have a portfolio.

No, it counts more because they have (at minimum) four years of formal training in design principles, color theory, typography, application and everything else that determines whether or not something looks good and whether or not it is well-designed.

[andrewharrington]

Pat Patriot will always be more "iconic" to me than some severed head with motion lines. Always.

I never saw this logo as a 'severed head', rather, I believe it was a design decision. It's why you see so many logos that are only heads, because full body logos, like Pat Patriot are just too much, especially for a helmet. They're too, big, too complex, too a lot of things. Ravens, Bengals, Eagles, Broncos, Raiders, Seahawks, Rams, Buccaneers, Redskins, Blue Jays, Indians, many many more, all logos that feature or featured heads only, yet none of those are ever deemed 'severed heads' like Flying Elvis is. I never understood that. I never saw the rear portion as motion lines, either. They always represented the stripes of the flag to me. It's strange how opinions vary so much. From afar, it seems to me that the graphic designers like Flying Elvis, while the fans, or uniform enthusiasts, or for all intents and purposes those who are not graphic designers seem to prefer Pat Patriot. Not 100%, but enough of a trend that I've noticed. I found that interesting.

Pat Patriot is never something I would describe as 'iconic' from a design standpoint. He's everything that an 'iconic' logo isn't; complex, realistic and literal. He's an illustration. A drawing. A sketch. But he is an 'icon' of New England football, being that he was the face of the Patriots for so long. Thus, I can see why Flying Elvis is more of a 'designer's logo' while Pat Patriot is more of a 'fan's logo' for lack of a better term.

[jojotarantino]

Just because someone is a graphic designer also doesn't mean their opinion counts more than anyone else because they have a portfolio.

No, it counts more because they have (at minimum) four years of formal training in design principles, color theory, typography, application and everything else that determines whether or not something looks good and whether or not it is well-designed.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I completely respect their degrees and all that, but at the end of the day these logos are designed for "Joe Fan" to buy merchandise not for designers to critique each other's work.

[quantum]

Just because someone is a graphic designer also doesn't mean their opinion counts more than anyone else because they have a portfolio.

No, it counts more because they have (at minimum) four years of formal training in design principles, color theory, typography, application and everything else that determines whether or not something looks good and whether or not it is well-designed.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I completely respect their degrees and all that, but at the end of the day these logos are designed for "Joe Fan" to buy merchandise not for designers to critique each other's work.

Joe Fan learns to adapt. They always have. At the end of the day, it's about supporting the team.

[Gothamite]

Oh by the way here's the piece that was on KABC 7 in Los Angeles:

. Tell me if it sounds like anyone's complaining about how much they got paid.

In this video they show the sketch! It has no chin, is a bit rough, but that's the baby there. I think the hat in the sketch is almost better as a representative of the Revolutionary era hat. The current hat is so big and to me looks a bit like a Russian fur hat. Overall a good evolution.

Also shown are some uni sketches and you can clearly see the one they picked to start the new Patriot era.

Isolating the doodle:

From a screencap.

[powersurge]

Pat Patriot will always be more "iconic" to me than some severed head with motion lines. Always.

I never saw this logo as a 'severed head', rather, I believe it was a design decision. It's why you see so many logos that are only heads, because full body logos, like Pat Patriot are just too much, especially for a helmet. They're too, big, too complex, too a lot of things. Ravens, Bengals, Eagles, Broncos, Raiders, Seahawks, Rams, Buccaneers, Redskins, Blue Jays, Indians, many many more, all logos that feature or featured heads only, yet none of those are ever deemed 'severed heads' like Flying Elvis is. I never understood that. I never saw the rear portion as motion lines, either. They always represented the stripes of the flag to me. It's strange how opinions vary so much. From afar, it seems to me that the graphic designers like Flying Elvis, while the fans, or uniform enthusiasts, or for all intents and purposes those who are not graphic designers seem to prefer Pat Patriot. Not 100%, but enough of a trend that I've noticed. I found that interesting.

Pat Patriot is never something I would describe as 'iconic' from a design standpoint. He's everything that an 'iconic' logo isn't; complex, realistic and literal. He's an illustration. A drawing. A sketch. But he is an 'icon' of New England football, being that he was the face of the Patriots for so long. Thus, I can see why Flying Elvis is more of a 'designer's logo' while Pat Patriot is more of a 'fan's logo' for lack of a better term.

VERY well said.

I agree with everything mentioned. I will add that the 'Pat Patriot' was a symbol of the old Patriots from the 70's and 80's; a completely different organization, mind set, and history then what has followed since the new logo was unveiled. To say that Pat Patriot was an iconic symbol of the organization, would be totally inaccurate unless one is referring to the Pats of days long gone. I see the new logo as being an iconic modern representation of an organization that has revolutionized how modern teams are run and dominated the new millenium.

I for one, don't have one iota of love for that bent over doofy looking grumpy idiot that used to adorn the Patriot helmets. I struggle to comprehend why so many people seem to glorify that logo. As you said, its a sub par logo at best.

[rams80]

Pat Patriot will always be more "iconic" to me than some severed head with motion lines. Always.

I never saw this logo as a 'severed head', rather, I believe it was a design decision. It's why you see so many logos that are only heads, because full body logos, like Pat Patriot are just too much, especially for a helmet. They're too, big, too complex, too a lot of things. Ravens, Bengals, Eagles, Broncos, Raiders, Seahawks, Rams, Buccaneers, Redskins, Blue Jays, Indians, many many more, all logos that feature or featured heads only, yet none of those are ever deemed 'severed heads' like Flying Elvis is. I never understood that. I never saw the rear portion as motion lines, either. They always represented the stripes of the flag to me. It's strange how opinions vary so much. From afar, it seems to me that the graphic designers like Flying Elvis, while the fans, or uniform enthusiasts, or for all intents and purposes those who are not graphic designers seem to prefer Pat Patriot. Not 100%, but enough of a trend that I've noticed. I found that interesting.

Pat Patriot is never something I would describe as 'iconic' from a design standpoint. He's everything that an 'iconic' logo isn't; complex, realistic and literal. He's an illustration. A drawing. A sketch. But he is an 'icon' of New England football, being that he was the face of the Patriots for so long. Thus, I can see why Flying Elvis is more of a 'designer's logo' while Pat Patriot is more of a 'fan's logo' for lack of a better term.

VERY well said.

I agree with everything mentioned. I will add that the 'Pat Patriot' was a symbol of the old Patriots from the 70's and 80's; a completely different organization, mind set, and history then what has followed since the new logo was unveiled. To say that Pat Patriot was an iconic symbol of the organization, would be totally inaccurate unless one is referring to the Pats of days long gone. I see the new logo as being an iconic modern representation of an organization that has revolutionized how modern teams are run and dominated the new millenium.

I for one, don't have one iota of love for that bent over doofy looking grumpy idiot that used to adorn the Patriot helmets. I struggle to comprehend why so many people seem to glorify that logo. As you said, its a sub par logo at best.

Completely inaccurate too....he should be running away from British fire as well.

[powersurge]

Pat Patriot will always be more "iconic" to me than some severed head with motion lines. Always.

I never saw this logo as a 'severed head', rather, I believe it was a design decision. It's why you see so many logos that are only heads, because full body logos, like Pat Patriot are just too much, especially for a helmet. They're too, big, too complex, too a lot of things. Ravens, Bengals, Eagles, Broncos, Raiders, Seahawks, Rams, Buccaneers, Redskins, Blue Jays, Indians, many many more, all logos that feature or featured heads only, yet none of those are ever deemed 'severed heads' like Flying Elvis is. I never understood that. I never saw the rear portion as motion lines, either. They always represented the stripes of the flag to me. It's strange how opinions vary so much. From afar, it seems to me that the graphic designers like Flying Elvis, while the fans, or uniform enthusiasts, or for all intents and purposes those who are not graphic designers seem to prefer Pat Patriot. Not 100%, but enough of a trend that I've noticed. I found that interesting.

Pat Patriot is never something I would describe as 'iconic' from a design standpoint. He's everything that an 'iconic' logo isn't; complex, realistic and literal. He's an illustration. A drawing. A sketch. But he is an 'icon' of New England football, being that he was the face of the Patriots for so long. Thus, I can see why Flying Elvis is more of a 'designer's logo' while Pat Patriot is more of a 'fan's logo' for lack of a better term.

VERY well said.

I agree with everything mentioned. I will add that the 'Pat Patriot' was a symbol of the old Patriots from the 70's and 80's; a completely different organization, mind set, and history then what has followed since the new logo was unveiled. To say that Pat Patriot was an iconic symbol of the organization, would be totally inaccurate unless one is referring to the Pats of days long gone. I see the new logo as being an iconic modern representation of an organization that has revolutionized how modern teams are run and dominated the new millenium.

I for one, don't have one iota of love for that bent over doofy looking grumpy idiot that used to adorn the Patriot helmets. I struggle to comprehend why so many people seem to glorify that logo. As you said, its a sub par logo at best.

Completely inaccurate too....he should be running away from British fire as well.

HA!

My old grade school classmate used to say: "When you're in that stance without a QB behind you, you're left in quite a compromising position" Of course, he would then follow that with a homophobic rant questioning the sexuality of Pat the Patriot. It is probably not a surprise to mention that he was also a huge JET fan.

[powersurge]

d/p

[Gothamite]

Pat Patriot was a subpar logo.

The Flying Elvis is a subpar logo.

Far as I'm concerned, the Patriots have only had one really good helmet logo:

[alltheway]

anyone know what the font is called for the patsies and where i can get it?

[powersurge]

Pat Patriot was a subpar logo.

The Flying Elvis is a subpar logo.

Far as I'm concerned, the Patriots have only had one really good helmet logo:

My main beef with any of their old looks was the fact that they wore bright red jerseys. I might have covered this in another post, but I just think that if you are going to have a nickname that refers back to the Revolutionary War period then avoid red as a primary. The British wore red....not the colonists.

I think the switch to their current color scheme is perfect.

[leedsunited]

Pat Patriot will always be more "iconic" to me than some severed head with motion lines. Always.

I never saw this logo as a 'severed head', rather, I believe it was a design decision. It's why you see so many logos that are only heads, because full body logos, like Pat Patriot are just too much, especially for a helmet. They're too, big, too complex, too a lot of things. Ravens, Bengals, Eagles, Broncos, Raiders, Seahawks, Rams, Buccaneers, Redskins, Blue Jays, Indians, many many more, all logos that feature or featured heads only, yet none of those are ever deemed 'severed heads' like Flying Elvis is. I never understood that. I never saw the rear portion as motion lines, either. They always represented the stripes of the flag to me. It's strange how opinions vary so much. From afar, it seems to me that the graphic designers like Flying Elvis, while the fans, or uniform enthusiasts, or for all intents and purposes those who are not graphic designers seem to prefer Pat Patriot. Not 100%, but enough of a trend that I've noticed. I found that interesting.

Pat Patriot is never something I would describe as 'iconic' from a design standpoint. He's everything that an 'iconic' logo isn't; complex, realistic and literal. He's an illustration. A drawing. A sketch. But he is an 'icon' of New England football, being that he was the face of the Patriots for so long. Thus, I can see why Flying Elvis is more of a 'designer's logo' while Pat Patriot is more of a 'fan's logo' for lack of a better term.

VERY well said.

I agree with everything mentioned. I will add that the 'Pat Patriot' was a symbol of the old Patriots from the 70's and 80's; a completely different organization, mind set, and history then what has followed since the new logo was unveiled. To say that Pat Patriot was an iconic symbol of the organization, would be totally inaccurate unless one is referring to the Pats of days long gone. I see the new logo as being an iconic modern representation of an organization that has revolutionized how modern teams are run and dominated the new millenium.

I for one, don't have one iota of love for that bent over doofy looking grumpy idiot that used to adorn the Patriot helmets. I struggle to comprehend why so many people seem to glorify that logo. As you said, its a sub par logo at best.

If Pat wasn't iconic, what's he doing still sparking debate over a decade past his demise? Fact is there are still a lot of people who prefer that logo.

Anyway, the demise of Pat and the rise of Flying Elvis is probably the highest-profile example of the modernization in sports logos, from the detailed logos of the 60s and 70s to the current simplistic, easy to reproduce motifs.

[Epiphanic]

I agree with Powersurge, "Flying Elvis" is much better than Pat. I'm just guessing, but I venture to say that the reason why Pat is so popular is not because of any design element or inherent superiority. Rather, people like Pat simply because he's old. Displaying some sort of devotion to an antiquated logo attaches that fan's allegiance to the team before the dynasty was built (which Elvis represents). That's not to say that Pat is a terrible logo, but to say it's better than Elvis is ludicrous in my opinion.

[rams80]

I agree with Powersurge, "Flying Elvis" is much better than Pat. I'm just guessing, but I venture to say that the reason why Pat is so popular is not because of any design element or inherent superiority. Rather, people like Pat simply because he's old. Displaying some sort of devotion to an antiquated logo attaches that fan's allegiance to the team before the dynasty was built (which Elvis represents). That's not to say that Pat is a terrible logo, but to say it's better than Elvis is ludicrous in my opinion.

Ball-in-Glove is the best logo ever made!!!! The combination of the "M" and "B" into a baseball glove is a perfect example of ingenious logo design. The Brewers were fools to drop it.

[powersurge]

Pat Patriot will always be more "iconic" to me than some severed head with motion lines. Always.

I never saw this logo as a 'severed head', rather, I believe it was a design decision. It's why you see so many logos that are only heads, because full body logos, like Pat Patriot are just too much, especially for a helmet. They're too, big, too complex, too a lot of things. Ravens, Bengals, Eagles, Broncos, Raiders, Seahawks, Rams, Buccaneers, Redskins, Blue Jays, Indians, many many more, all logos that feature or featured heads only, yet none of those are ever deemed 'severed heads' like Flying Elvis is. I never understood that. I never saw the rear portion as motion lines, either. They always represented the stripes of the flag to me. It's strange how opinions vary so much. From afar, it seems to me that the graphic designers like Flying Elvis, while the fans, or uniform enthusiasts, or for all intents and purposes those who are not graphic designers seem to prefer Pat Patriot. Not 100%, but enough of a trend that I've noticed. I found that interesting.

Pat Patriot is never something I would describe as 'iconic' from a design standpoint. He's everything that an 'iconic' logo isn't; complex, realistic and literal. He's an illustration. A drawing. A sketch. But he is an 'icon' of New England football, being that he was the face of the Patriots for so long. Thus, I can see why Flying Elvis is more of a 'designer's logo' while Pat Patriot is more of a 'fan's logo' for lack of a better term.

VERY well said.

I agree with everything mentioned. I will add that the 'Pat Patriot' was a symbol of the old Patriots from the 70's and 80's; a completely different organization, mind set, and history then what has followed since the new logo was unveiled. To say that Pat Patriot was an iconic symbol of the organization, would be totally inaccurate unless one is referring to the Pats of days long gone. I see the new logo as being an iconic modern representation of an organization that has revolutionized how modern teams are run and dominated the new millenium.

I for one, don't have one iota of love for that bent over doofy looking grumpy idiot that used to adorn the Patriot helmets. I struggle to comprehend why so many people seem to glorify that logo. As you said, its a sub par logo at best.

If Pat wasn't iconic, what's he doing still sparking debate over a decade past his demise? Fact is there are still a lot of people who prefer that logo.

Are you kiddin' me? There still are people alive today who spend hours on fansites debating who the bigger 90's heartthrob was: Luke Perry or Jason Priestly....doesn't mean either of them is iconic.

Seriously though, many people here have long debates over the Cleveland Browns' old Elf logo. Is THAT Elf logo iconic or even remotely relevant in today's era? I say no. I guess thats the same category that I'd put the 'Pat Patriot' logo in. It may make people feel all warm and cuddly when they see it. Maybe it reminds them of those lovable all red clad Patriots who blazed the trail to Super Bowl XX before getting totally destroyed by one of the best teams in history. IDK, maybe they love the fact that he had a blue coat with a ruffly white undershirt. To each his own I guess. I simply look at the logo, laugh, and think to myself "Look how far this team has come".

[powersurge]

I agree with Powersurge, "Flying Elvis" is much better than Pat. I'm just guessing, but I venture to say that the reason why Pat is so popular is not because of any design element or inherent superiority. Rather, people like Pat simply because he's old. Displaying some sort of devotion to an antiquated logo attaches that fan's allegiance to the team before the dynasty was built (which Elvis represents). That's not to say that Pat is a terrible logo, but to say it's better than Elvis is ludicrous in my opinion.

Ball-in-Glove is the best logo ever made!!!! The combination of the "M" and "B" into a baseball glove is a perfect example of ingenious logo design. The Brewers were fools to drop it.

Hey thats enough outta you!

If you're gonna go there, then I'll spark up the whole 'powder blue' Chargers unis debate again....

...or how about the fact that the Cowboys have mismatching blues on their uniforms; anyone ever notice that?

[NoHoJoe]

From the article:

So they could design a football logo with no parameters. The only thing certain was that they did not want it to be like the old Patriots logo, a smirking Minuteman in a three-point stance.

Said Evenson: "It was the ugliest logo around. I figured we could do something more streamlined."

What? This, ugly??

It was hard to duplicate when I scribbled logos in my notebooks as a kid, but...still.

It's time to update Pat Patriot in Formation. The Flying Headless Patriot has GOT TO GO!!!!

[Gothamite]

Pat Patriot was a subpar logo.

The Flying Elvis is a subpar logo.

Far as I'm concerned, the Patriots have only had one really good helmet logo:

My main beef with any of their old looks was the fact that they wore bright red jerseys. I might have covered this in another post, but I just think that if you are going to have a nickname that refers back to the Revolutionary War period then avoid red as a primary. The British wore red....not the colonists.

I think the switch to their current color scheme is perfect.

Not going to debate the uniform colors, only wish to stress that the first helmet logo was the only halfway decent one the Patriots ever had.