Rebranding the MLB: Part 9

[elliott]

SEA | TB | BAL | MIA | ATL

ANA | COL | CLE

Hello again. The only thing I have to say about the last concept is that I don't think there is much more I can do. It was my honest attempt at updating Wahoo. Love it or hate it, it was my take on it, and I don't think I'm going to go for a completely different style with an update, because it would probably end up looking quite similar. It's just my personal style I guess. And if you argue that the classic Wahoo looks better, I probably wouldn't contradict you, but of course I wanted to depart from the old logo just a little, it's a redesign series.

Well, I spent about 2 days which is probably about 4 hours perfecting this logo. I don't know if that is considered a long time or not by you guys, but I'm generally a really quick worker when I set my mind to it, as evidence to the large part of this series already completed in only a few months. So I really just sat down and messed with this logo until I thought it looked good enough to be used professionally. Luckily I saved each draft so you can see my progression. I started out with a realistic bird shape, then just simplified and smoothed things out to create a drastically different final product. The difference between the second-to-last draft and the final logo is small - some very miniscule differences with the curves are there, and then I tilted it forward slightly so it is less static.

For the wordmarks I wanted a slightly tilted forward / italic design to complement the logo with big bold lettering. To complement the blue letters I used a black underscore, and each wordmark features half a maple leaf. That theme carries over to the alternate cap. The jerseys are fairly simple. I felt that the shade of blue would go well on the hat with a good amount of black to complement it, so the brim is all black. The arms feature a wider strip of color at the very end, think of the width of one of the stripes on the Phillies' jerseys. I decided "Blue Jays" was a little too long for the home script and I wanted it to be bold instead of smaller lettering, so I used the shortened "Jays". The actual primary logo, then, is the only element that features the full script, you know, like many teams seem to be doing now i.e. Hawks, Grizzlies (just 2 really quick examples). The road lacks a wordmark, my reason being that my last 8 concepts have all featured the city name on the roads, and I was getting bored of it. So I changed up the conventional layout, featured the logo on the road jersey, and moved the city name to the alternate, which focuses more on blue and brings in the alternate T cap logo, on an all blue hat. The bp is dominated by black, still, I think the black hat with blue brim is a pretty cool/unique combo, and might be a good seller since I know that many fans prefer the bp style of cap (and the cheaper price). The lack of patch logos or side panels on the bp continue the simplistic theme I went for.

Sorry for the very wordy explanation but I personally find it helpful when a designer explains their intentions rather than just throw something out there.

Comments/criticism, as always, are appreciated.

[Linus]

Im not a fan of the blue you chose. No offence but the wordmarks are terrible. Its just a basic font with a line underneath and a maple leaf at the beginning. The "T" logo is way to generic and theres something about the bird that I dont like.

What the Jays wear now is terrible (minus the road jersey), but Im sorry man, this is a downgrade from what they have.

[TalktoChuck]

The wordmarks are very plain and dull. Even with the maple leaf and underline they seem dull to me. Spice up the font and it will improve this set a lot.

[crkraider22]

I agree that the wordmarks look plain, but I like the idea of the T and Maple Leaf logo. I also think that it would be better to have the full Blue Jays on the logo, but I understand your reasoning for using Jays. The black line under the wordmarks just doesnt seem to fit the simplicity of the rest of the jersey, probabily because there is no other black on the jerseys except for the nameplate. The double outline on the BP jersey makes the back look squished together. The bird looks pretty good, but I'm just curious as to why all of your animal redesigns have the animal facing to the right.

[Brave-Bird 08]

I think the blue jay logo is a tad too abstract. I really do not think its an improvement, but I see how much you want to REDESIGN..which is hard to do, so I am still pretty impressed.

The wordmark is not doing it for me at all on the home jerseys. The underline looks goofy, especially on the home jersey. The alternate script actually is not too bad.

Also, I dont like the leaning nameplate font. Make it vertical or have it curve.

I do like the hats, especially the alternate. One thing I want to see though is to make the leaf red...or black...so it is visible on the hat and pants. You have to look hard to find it on the alternate shirt.

Overall great work though.

[BJBerthiaume]

I have to disagree with most of these guys, I really like this concept. The Jay in the middle of your steps is my favorite, however, and I think it might look a little better than the final Jay you used. I actually love the wordmarks. They are very simple, but effective. They're easy to read, and perfectly bolded IMO. The only thing I don't like about the hat logo is that it is waaaay too similar to the Raptors alternate logo. I don't think the Blue Jays would really want to draw comparisons to the local NBA team, I think they would want to remain unique. I like all of the jerseys except the road. It would look better with the Toronto script IMO. Very good job overall, but I obviously see something different than everybody else, so I don't know how much of my rant to listen to.

[elliott]

Ok then. I thought while making it that the one central thing was the bird and I built everything else around it. For that reason I was a little iffy on the wordmarks. I will try to go a different direction with the update. They can improve for sure.

Thanks for the comments so far.

[Jamikel]

I like the direction you went in with the colors and jay logo, but I prefer the third jay sketch from the left over the one you actually chose. I also would prefer Blue Jays on the home jersey instead of just Jays. Probably because the only Jay I know is a really flamboyant artsy-fartsy guy who would make a terrible mascot for a major league baseball team.

[chestnutz]

Gonna disagree with the masses and say I like this. It's not your best of the series by far, but I think it's an improvement.

The primary looks a bit too abstract for me as well. It just looks too flimsy, curvy. I'd give it some sharper edges, like the Philly Eagles or Miami (Ohio) Redhawks.

I actually really like the wordmarks. They're different for the club, and the color combination really works for me.

It may look really odd, but I almost think that the primary cap could be one of those trucker style hats, with the back part being black, the front square with the logo being blue, and the bill being black. Just a thought.

[boshalladay]

2 quick tweaks on the logo: 1. Flatten out the forehead. 2. Fatten the beak. Basically, I think the logo prototype #3 is a gem, and much, much better than the final product.

Other than that, you've acknowledged that the wordmark needs some fixing, so I'm excited for the update on this one!

[chickenfish13]

I think it looks good. The wordmarks are kind of cartoony to me, but overall I like the concept. Can't wait to see more

[bohob]

Logos – I like alot. I still prefer the current jay, but this is a re-design, and you did a pretty good job. I think I agree that Step 3 of the logo might work a little better. The secondary (as many others have said) looks bland. It needs a more stylized font. It looks more like the first sketch than the finished product. You might not want to use a bevel, but the letter needs something more, and maybe that could be applied to the leaf as well.

Wordmarks – This has mostly been mentioned, and I touched on it with the secondary, but they need to be more stylized.

Uniforms – A big part of the uniforms are the wordmarks. I like the idea of a road jersy with a crest, but I think it would work better with a T logo for Toronto. Overall, I think you could take more risks with the uniform. Toronto has had some cool modern designs, and I think this one could be taken further.

P.S. The Angels logo is incredibly well done. The wing texture is perfectly stylized and executed. I like it with yellow better than all-white, but could see silver as a good compromise. The accent color highlights the halo, which is key to the identity. So far the Angels is my favorite, with Colorado as a close #2.

[dgnmrwrw]

elliot, I'm gonna be in the minority here and say I actually quite like the type/wordmark treatment. It's crisp and clean, and quite honestly, it's refreshing to see something that isn't over-stylized or has multiple sets of outlines. I'm fine with you going with a more-stylized script, but I would really like to see you keep them outline-free, if it works. I just really like how clean it is.

Other than that, I like the T-leaf logo (even if it's a Raptors thing) and the Jay logo is nice. Pretty good work.

[DelayedPenalty]

Nothing about this concept really wows me. It's all kind of dull and manilla. It's very nice, don't get me wrong, but not for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Did you enter that primary logo in the Raytown Blue Jays request thread? It looks very familiar.

[CAB]

I like the Jay logo, but that is about the only thing about this concept. The wordmark you chose is very bland and I know you can do much better. I love the color scheme you chose and jerseys are pretty good. But, the wordmark is really what is bringing this concept down for me.

[elliott]

Moving in the right direction? Thoughts? More black?

[Bmac]

Those are looking better, but yes, it does need more black IMO.

[Bmac]

Those are looking better, but yes, it does need more black IMO.

EDIT: sorry, doublepost. And I forgot to say that the script would look better with an outline, black or gray.

[TalktoChuck]

The wordmarks look much better. And as much as I hate to say it, it does need more black.

[ChuckDownfield]

I know it has been said, but just for reassurance, yes this needs more black.