What makes a great sports logo?

[johnnygriswold]

Hey all, I had a heated discussion with someone about what makes a great sports logo (specifically hockey). And why a logo becomes a classic.

Just curious what the professional logo designers and fans of logos think makes a great sports logo.

[Firefly]

You take two parts color, one part magic, one part... who the hell knows. A good logo is one that is simply well designed. A great one seems to rely on the team and the atmosphere of the fanbase.

I mean, the Yankee logo is classy but it's the reputation of the team and the layers of legend applied to them by their fans that truly make it an icon.

[oddball]

History and by that I really mean winning history. How many of the "great" logos are just a letter or something simple from before 1960? Many. They haven't been changed, because there's history behind them and they worked at the time and because they have a winning history behind them, they don't need to change. Probably the one that goes against that trend would be the Cubs, but again, that has been around forever. I can't tell you a great sports logo that has been created in the last 25 to 30 years. Maybe the current Broncos head, but it still needs some more Super Bowl wins before it's granted into the great category.

[tBBP]

History and by that I really mean winning history. How many of the "great" logos are just a letter or something simple from before 1960? Many. They haven't been changed, because there's history behind them and they worked at the time and because they have a winning history behind them, they don't need to change. Probably the one that goes against that trend would be the Cubs, but again, that has been around forever. I can't tell you a great sports logo that has been created in the last 25 to 30 years. Maybe the current Broncos head, but it still needs some more Super Bowl wins before it's granted into the great category.

I can name one...that of the Houston Texans.

Beyond that, though...I couldn't name another one right now, either. Actually yes I can...that of the Steelers. Not so much for it being a "sports logo", though, but more so for what it represented when the Steelers adopted it and what it still stands for today. Basically, when the Steelers adopted that Steelmark logo and made it their own, they gave a shout-out not only to Pittsburgh (and, for that matter, most of western Pennsylvania), but every singular steelworker in the United States. There's no flash, no "pizazz" to it at all...only substance (that being the meanings behind the hypocycloids). Pretty much like the team. No kind of style at all...only substance. A winning substance, at that.

[The_Admiral]

You can idly doodle it on a notebook in math class and still recognize it.

[BrandMooreArt]

visability

application

distinctivness

color

simplicity

retention

timelessness

equity

modularity

descriptivness

that goes for any logo

[BrandMooreArt]

History and by that I really mean winning history. How many of the "great" logos are just a letter or something simple from before 1960? Many. They haven't been changed, because there's history behind them and they worked at the time and because they have a winning history behind them, they don't need to change. Probably the one that goes against that trend would be the Cubs, but again, that has been around forever. I can't tell you a great sports logo that has been created in the last 25 to 30 years. Maybe the current Broncos head, but it still needs some more Super Bowl wins before it's granted into the great category.

I can name one...that of the Houston Texans.

Beyond that, though...I couldn't name another one right now, either. Actually yes I can...that of the Steelers. Not so much for it being a "sports logo", though, but more so for what it represented when the Steelers adopted it and what it still stands for today. Basically, when the Steelers adopted that Steelmark logo and made it their own, they gave a shout-out not only to Pittsburgh (and, for that matter, most of western Pennsylvania), but every singular steelworker in the United States. There's no flash, no "pizazz" to it at all...only substance (that being the meanings behind the hypocycloids). Pretty much like the team. No kind of style at all...only substance. A winning substance, at that.

i agree, the texans logo is my favorite in the NFL.

[johnnygriswold]

visability

application

distinctivness

color

simplicity

retention

timelessness

equity

modularity

descriptivness

that goes for any logo

I totally agree. The person I was discussing this with was adamant that the logo HAD to have some sort of visual element that represented the city. I just don't think you need to shoe-horn something into a logo just because.

[AsM29]

visability

application

distinctivness

color

simplicity

retention

timelessness

equity

modularity

descriptivness

that goes for any logo

Well said. I could write up a paragraph of what I think makes a good logo, but then I would just be an echo.

[Milo Meningocele]

93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.

[GoDawgs08]

I'ts simple.

Good logos are good logos... by this I mean ones that look good on merchandise, look "cool", you know... my example is the Atlanta Hawks new alternate logo... people in Atlanta think it kicks butt!

Bad logos are bad logos... look at the Washington Wizards, despite its clever design, it is not taken in well by fans and critics.

however, GREAT logos come with a GREAT franchise, winning tradition, etc. Thats just how the world works. Do I think the Packers, Steelers, Yankees, Cowoboys, Bears, etc. have great logos? ehhh i mean they are good

but, I cant help but realize people always say "great logo! dont change it!"... we are just brought up seeing these logos most and these teams winning traditions create some type of illusion

there is no doubt a correlation between team success and the feedback logos get...which is interesting.

[Chazberg]

To be honest, I think any logo will be looked at as \'great\' over time, if it sticks around, because we have a tendency to confuse \'great\' and \'classic\'. If you take a logo + time (say, 40 years or more) + success (a couple championships, perhaps) it will ultimately = a greta logo. Look at the original 6, or the oldest teams in baseball or football.

If someone today designed a logo that looked like the Packers\' G, or the Cowboys\' star, or the Yankees\' NY, they\'d be laughed out of the room. But because these logos have been around so long and we\'ve become so familiar with them (and in many cases they\'ve become synonymous with success) since we\'ve been alive, we develop a fondness and nostalgia for them and think of them as great, even if from a design standpoint they are sloppy or crooked or inconsistent (The Bears\' C is crooked, the Yankees use about 3 different versions of the NY, etc.) or plain boring.

It\'s hard to say how \'great\' some of these logos are, because a lot of the older ones don\'t really symbolize their team name, or look dynamic or exciting. So I think you have to distinguish whether you mean \'great logo\' from an unbiased design standpoint, where newer logos would probably triumph, or from a \'classic\' or nostalgia standpoint.

IMHO, the greatest logo from a recognizable and classic standpoint is this:

From a graphic standpoint, I think the best are these:

[BrandMooreArt]

i was just going to add to the "good logos of the last 30 years or so" with the Tampa Bay Buccs logo. if you dont like that one then get off my internets!