OKC NBA to announce nickname, logo, colors September 3

[ferrousoxide66]

The OKC logo makes the Iowa Chop pighead look like the Yankees' NY interlock, the Habs' CH, and the Green Bay "G" all rolled into one superlative identity.

[Blackjack76]

The shield reminds me of the Atlanta Thrashers. But that's just the start of it, and the "mountain of suck" has been covered already.

The one item I'd like to point out (and I stopped reading this thread on page 12, so someone may have covered it) is this:

"You only make a first impression once."

There may be additional brands coming out in the next few weeks/months/year, but the damage is done. This logo is just awful. Why piece-meal your entire identity package (and start with crapola) when you could have taken the extra time to gather some feedback from your most loyal constituents: employees, players and season-ticket holders?

That is exactly what I would have done...and maybe they did. If so, then remind me to never ask anyone from OKC for any advice.

[gosioux76]

From the Daily Oklahoman Web site

The Oklahoma City team worked with the Ackerman-McQueen agency and the NBA to develop the logo.

?We are thrilled with the creative design,? Bennett said. ?It's an exhilarating day. We're very proud. We hope the fans are proud. And we hope to make them proud.?

Link

[habsfan1]

From the Daily Oklahoman Web site

The Oklahoma City team worked with the Ackerman-McQueen agency and the NBA to develop the logo.

?We are thrilled with the creative design,? Bennett said. ?It's an exhilarating day. We're very proud. We hope the fans are proud. And we hope to make them proud.?

Link

They have to say that no matter how awful they know it is.

[Brian in Boston]

The OKC logo makes the Iowa Chop pighead look like the Yankees' NY interlock, the Habs' CH, and the Green Bay "G" all rolled into one superlative identity.

Hyperbole.

[Brian in Boston]

The Oklahoma City team worked with the Ackerman-McQueen agency and the NBA to develop the logo.

Ackerman-McQueen is a local marketing/advertising agency. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the firm has additional offices in Colorado Springs, Dallas, San Francisco, Tulsa and Washington DC. They were responsible for designing the Oklahoma RedHawks' logo.

If the selection of projects in their on-line portfolio is indicative of how their services actually breakdown, logo design accounts for less than a quarter of their work-load; 14% to be exact (10 of the 71 projects featured). In other words, I wouldn't consider logo design to be their field of expertise.

As an aside, Ackerman-McQueen was responsible for generating identities, including logos, for a number of fictitious baseball teams that were part of a 1994 merchandise line called Very Minor Leagues ("The Latest Teams to Never Play the Game."; "The Bogus Boys of Summer Are Back."). Amongst the identities they came up with were those for teams such as the Butler (TN) Didits, the Catskill (NY) Mice, the Cuervo (NM) Tequila Shots, the Forney (TX) Gators, the Linch (WY) Mobs, the Macon (GA) Whoopees, the Pryor (MT) Convictions, the Sargent (ND) Peppers, the Whitewater (KS) Landsharks and the Woodstock (NY) Hippies. Ultimately, Very Minor Leagues found itself embroiled in a legal battle with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues over just who owned the trademark rights to the designation "Minor Leagues" in conjunction with baseball-related merchandise.

[slapshot]

Just checking out the Ackerman-McQueen website http://www.am.com and they really have no prior history of sports branding. The closest things are the Redhawks logo, and cap logos for something called the Very Minor Leagues. Aside from some random marketing projects for the Dallas Cowboys, this seems to be a new field for this company.

[mfoster]

Just checking out the Ackerman-McQueen website http://www.am.com and they really have no prior history of sports branding. The closest things are the Redhawks logo, and cap logos for something called the Very Minor Leagues. Aside from some random marketing projects for the Dallas Cowboys, this seems to be a new field for this company.

As a point of reference, Clay Bennett controlled the '89ers when they moved to the new ballpark and changed their brand to this:

And I'll mention it again, the urban legend in OKC is that the above logo was originally intended as the NHL crest should their efforts have resulted in an expansion franchise. Now, I like the RedHawks logo, and think the O-R with the bird makes a fine ballcap mark, but for an NHL team? No.

[evobost]

I live in Las Vegas now, however I lived right outside of Oklahoma City, in Norman, for the last 7 years or so. I am really excited about the Oklahoma City getting an NBA franchise, however I have my doubts about the long term stability of a team in this area. They supported the Hornets very well, for a whole myriad of reasons. I am interested to see if that kind of support can be maintained after 3 or 4 years of futility, my guess is that it won't be horrible but not great.

This logo has really turned me off. I mean when that logo was leaked last week sometime I was ready to call everyone an idiot for believing such obvious non-sense crap. My mouth dropped opened and I had a huge sinking feeling in my stomach when I saw that this was really going to be the logo. I am horribly dissappointed for the Oklahoma City area. A team is great and that is awesome, but this is really a travesty. I mean the other NBA owners and NBA officials must be saying WTF, WTF.

[eRay]

People have mentioned this sham of a logo being worse than D-League and WNBA logos. I started thinking about D-League and NBA affiliations and if any D-League teams have identities that are superior to their NBA affiliate.

Anaheim Arsenal>LA Clippers? It could be argued.

Dakota Wizards>Washington Wizards? Maybe to some. Not IMO though.

Reno Bighorns> NY Knicks or Sacramento Kings? Not yet young man.

Tulsa 66ers>the no name fake NBA related team? YES!!!!

I hope they go bankrupt and Stern agrees to forget this ever happened and brings back the Sonics.

[ferrousoxide66]

The OKC logo makes the Iowa Chop pighead look like the Yankees' NY interlock, the Habs' CH, and the Green Bay "G" all rolled into one superlative identity.

Hyperbole.

Wow, used all your deductive reasoning for that one, didn't you? Here's a pat on the head. Good work! Gold star for you!

[Brian in Boston]

Wow, used all your deductive reasoning for that one, didn't you? Here's a pat on the head. Good work! Gold star for you!

I'm so excited! Coming from an aesthete such as yourself, I'm sure that the Gold star is an example of impeccable design.

[TrueYankee26]

To call this an epic failure would be the understatement of the year. the 432nd time somebody used that tired phrase in this thread.

Fixed that for ya.

You can't blame them for saying it, Let's make it 433, because All the OKC concepts I have seen on this site would have blown this EPIC FAIL of a logo out of the water.

[AAO]

Makes me think. You know why Clay Bennett didn't unveil the uniforms? He wants to first have people buy the shirts, then as the season rolls along and the unis debut, few weeks later, you have people to buy the uniforms.

Typical business minded--but so poorly done. I feel like they had this logo in the works for a longggg time. To go with whatever name they chose. Then slapped Thunder up in the Industria Bold font, arced it and BAM heap of crap at hand.

I hope this organization folds, and move back to Seattle. ASAP.

[Firefly]

I hear you.

My beloved local football team chose the name "Texans" which is stupid, stupid, stupid. But a second later, they showed the logo.

A smooth logo can go a long way to winning over fans.

Thunder isn't that bad a name. Heck, within the last month I've gotten used to the sound of it. Sounds pretty nice. But this logo takes all that good will and flushes it down the toilet. It would be one thing if they tried something daring or ambitious and simply failed. This is simply safe and that makes the failure so much worse.

[wdaniel]

Makes me think. You know why Clay Bennett didn't unveil the uniforms? He wants to first have people buy the shirts, then as the season rolls along and the unis debut, few weeks later, you have people to buy the uniforms.

Typical business minded--but so poorly done. I feel like they had this logo in the works for a longggg time. To go with whatever name they chose. Then slapped Thunder up in the Industria Bold font, arced it and BAM heap of crap at hand.

I hope this organization folds, and move back to Seattle. ASAP.

You are a jerk for making comments like that. A childish jerk.

[McCall]

Makes me think. You know why Clay Bennett didn't unveil the uniforms? He wants to first have people buy the shirts, then as the season rolls along and the unis debut, few weeks later, you have people to buy the uniforms.

Typical business minded--but so poorly done. I feel like they had this logo in the works for a longggg time. To go with whatever name they chose. Then slapped Thunder up in the Industria Bold font, arced it and BAM heap of crap at hand.

I hope this organization folds, and move back to Seattle. ASAP.

You are a jerk for making comments like that. A childish jerk.

And you are obviously new here.

Yeah, Ian's having a bit of a breakdown... for a day or 2 now, but it's still his perogative to not like this logo. Yes, he is getting a bit worked up, and a brief vacation from the boards would probably be good for his longterm mental health, but still. It is a crappy logo.

[JQK]

Makes me think. You know why Clay Bennett didn't unveil the uniforms? He wants to first have people buy the shirts, then as the season rolls along and the unis debut, few weeks later, you have people to buy the uniforms.

Typical business minded--but so poorly done. I feel like they had this logo in the works for a longggg time. To go with whatever name they chose. Then slapped Thunder up in the Industria Bold font, arced it and BAM heap of crap at hand.

I hope this organization folds, and move back to Seattle. ASAP.

You are a jerk for making comments like that. A childish jerk.

And you are... ?

OKC never deserved a team, the Sonics were hijacked, and now with this logo, it gives Clay the c*cksucker hatrick.

[fiasco!]

Makes me think. You know why Clay Bennett didn't unveil the uniforms? He wants to first have people buy the shirts, then as the season rolls along and the unis debut, few weeks later, you have people to buy the uniforms.

Typical business minded--but so poorly done. I feel like they had this logo in the works for a longggg time. To go with whatever name they chose. Then slapped Thunder up in the Industria Bold font, arced it and BAM heap of crap at hand.

I hope this organization folds, and move back to Seattle. ASAP.

You are a jerk for making comments like that. A childish jerk.

And you are obviously new here.

Yeah, Ian's having a bit of a breakdown... for a day or 2 now, but it's still his perogative to not like this logo. Yes, he is getting a bit worked up, and a brief vacation from the boards would probably be good for his longterm mental health, but still. It is a crappy logo.

Ian is still pretty childish, if you think about it.

[Avenger]

Makes me think. You know why Clay Bennett didn't unveil the uniforms? He wants to first have people buy the shirts, then as the season rolls along and the unis debut, few weeks later, you have people to buy the uniforms.

Typical business minded--but so poorly done. I feel like they had this logo in the works for a longggg time. To go with whatever name they chose. Then slapped Thunder up in the Industria Bold font, arced it and BAM heap of crap at hand.

I hope this organization folds, and move back to Seattle. ASAP.

You are a jerk for making comments like that. A childish jerk.

And you are obviously new here.

Yeah, Ian's having a bit of a breakdown... for a day or 2 now, but it's still his perogative to not like this logo. Yes, he is getting a bit worked up, and a brief vacation from the boards would probably be good for his longterm mental health, but still. It is a crappy logo.

Ian is still pretty childish, if you think about it.

Childish and opinionated aren't mutually exclusive... that's all I needed to hear.