Hamilton NASL concept

[dmont]

.

Ok figured out the topic posting thing, sorry for the earlier thread-jacking.

Here's the concept. Bob Young (former NASL owner) has said he wants to bring a team to Hamilton, so never to early to come up with a logo and jersey right?

Feedback?

[The Fixer]

Its a good start but really needs to be simplified in my opinion. no need for gray. You can make it all back and it'd look great. I also think the H would look a lot better without the lines and just being a solid H. The Soccer ball could also be simplified. Maybe only use the pentagons and no lines. I would also lighten the gold.

And consider making the leaf/ball/hammer symbol take up the entire space and get rid of the H. You already have "Hamilton" in there. just an idea. It may not need it

[Evil Doctor]

Here's the concept. Bob Young (former NASL owner) has said he wants to bring a team to Hamilton, so never to early to come up with a logo and jersey right?

Feedback?

So a Eurowannabe name, eh?

[omnibus]

.

Ok figured out the topic posting thing, sorry for the earlier thread-jacking.

Here's the concept. Bob Young (former NASL owner) has said he wants to bring a team to Hamilton, so never to early to come up with a logo and jersey right?

Feedback?

Not sure what those guys are talking about. This is a GREAT concept if you ask me. The grey is necessary if you want that STEEL look to come thuough. I wouldn't change one damn thing. Love the Hamilton City too. Hamilton, correct me if I am wrong, is considered by many canadians as little brother, Toronto Jr. The Hamilton City gives it a STRONG identity.

[Cooleyvol]

Here's the concept. Bob Young (former NASL owner) has said he wants to bring a team to Hamilton, so never to early to come up with a logo and jersey right?

Feedback?

So a Eurowannabe name, eh?

What's wrong with the naming of a NA franchise in the european manner? I like it. Historically, its the way the big football clubs are/were named.

[dmont]

.

Ok figured out the topic posting thing, sorry for the earlier thread-jacking.

Here's the concept. Bob Young (former NASL owner) has said he wants to bring a team to Hamilton, so never to early to come up with a logo and jersey right?

Feedback?

Not sure what those guys are talking about. This is a GREAT concept if you ask me. The grey is necessary if you want that STEEL look to come thuough. I wouldn't change one damn thing. Love the Hamilton City too. Hamilton, correct me if I am wrong, is considered by many canadians as little brother, Toronto Jr. The Hamilton City gives it a STRONG identity.

Thanks very much.

You're right, the grey is in there to represent steel, which is historically the cornerstone of Hamilton's economy. Likewise, the "H" is supposed to be made from steel beams. That's why it's crisscrossed with gold lines.

The black and gold scheme is the same as the Hamilton Tigercats, the city's CFL team which Young also owns. Grey's there to distinguish the soccer team from the football team.

Actually, Hamilton was recently amalgamated with a few of its suburbs, and my understanding is there's some tensions between downtown (the old city of Hamilton) and its newer pieces. That being said, Hamilton is the only municipality within 45 minutes of toronto to really keep its own identity rather than be a suburb. The name certainly speaks to Hamilton's independence from Toronto as its own city.

With the exception of some revived NASL teams, the more successful new soccer teams in North America have adopted some European mannerisms, from the structure of their academies to their gameday atmosphere, and yes, their team names. I don't know if there's any "wannabeism" going on, but that seems to be a successful model.

[erikstoll]

absolutely love it especially the steel H

[e15725]

As a life long resident of " The Hammer " I think you nailed it.

[aci]

Excellent job! I love the colours and, for the most part, the logo.

The 'girder-H' is an excellent idea, but I think the perspective on the cross-beam is off... the flat face should be visible on the bottom of it, and not the top... it gives the impression of a towering metal H being viewed from beneath, which I think is awesome.

I'm not really feeling what's on the right side of the crest... it might just be me, but it feels like three random objects slapped in there to fill space. It might even look better totally empty.

[nash61]

Passes this Hamilton resident's test. Great concept. Only thing I would change would be to centre the H and use the head of the hammer as the cross beam.

[IceCap]

I love it. Fantastic job.

[Evil Doctor]

Here's the concept. Bob Young (former NASL owner) has said he wants to bring a team to Hamilton, so never to early to come up with a logo and jersey right?

Feedback?

So a Eurowannabe name, eh?

What's wrong with the naming of a NA franchise in the european manner? I like it. Historically, its the way the big football clubs are/were named.

Because we're in North America, and soccer should be trying to appeal to North American fans rather than fall into the dead end trap of appealing to an immigrant population, who have seen better soccer played elsewhere.

[Evil Doctor]

Actually, Hamilton was recently amalgamated with a few of its suburbs, and my understanding is there's some tensions between downtown (the old city of Hamilton) and its newer pieces. That being said, Hamilton is the only municipality within 45 minutes of toronto to really keep its own identity rather than be a suburb. The name certainly speaks to Hamilton's independence from Toronto as its own city.

With the exception of some revived NASL teams, the more successful new soccer teams in North America have adopted some European mannerisms, from the structure of their academies to their gameday atmosphere, and yes, their team names. I don't know if there's any "wannabeism" going on, but that seems to be a successful model.

When anybody thinks of the word "city" the first thing that comes to mind is Hamilton. It is the city of cities. Forget this New York or Paris or London crap, THE city is Hamilton...

(Okay, maybe that's how I see Hamilton, but I'm pretty sure not many others see things that way.)

Try to imagine someone trying to explain Hamilton to someone who knows nothing about it.

"Well, it's a city...."

"Really? Cool!"

But in all seriousness, don't get me wrong, with all the MS Paint concepts that pollute this board that get the usual polite encouragement even though it's a load of crap (which is why I don't post any concepts of mine since all I got is MS Paint and the sadly misnamed Logo Design) it's refreshing to see a real concept that is well executed (including a embroidered patch (nicely done, btw))

However since we're talking about a theoretical team that hasn't even been awarded a franchise and probably won't see play until 2014 at the earliest if ever, the name is as much apart of the concept discussion as the actually patch and colours. Speaking as someone who knows Hamilton really well, the name is, well, bland. It just sits there in a corner hoping the pretty girl will look in it's direction.

As for whether the Eurowannabe names are actually a successful model, I think there can be some debate for that.

The top 5 MLS attendance so far...

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Only two of the Eurowannabe are in the top 5, (and the top 5 are the only teams to average over 20,000 this year.)

The others....

6th 10th 12th 13th

N/A (yet to play a home date so far, but based on previous attendance figures likely to be bottom 3)

If you can't get a team to connect with it's community, it's dead in the water.

Now you do have some nice design elements to the concept. The uniforms are fine (perhaps switch the sponsor to something less pie-in-the-sky RBC to something with a more local connection like Tim Hortons, ArcelorMittal, or Maple Leaf Foods) and simplify the actual crest and centralize the main element you want to emphasize (similar to what Portland and Seattle have) and leave the name blank for now (or a humourous TBD or Your Team Name Here).

[Jer15]

I think we need to make a BIG distinction here then.

2 of 3 "traditionally north american" names has "FC" in it. Is that not European inspired? (which for the record I have no problem with, I just want to understand where the line is drawn)

As for the concept I like it a lot. The colours are perfect for Hamilton. I would suggest just calling the team Steel City though. I think is flows better than Hamilton City.

[IceCap]

Here's the concept. Bob Young (former NASL owner) has said he wants to bring a team to Hamilton, so never to early to come up with a logo and jersey right?

Feedback?

So a Eurowannabe name, eh?

What's wrong with the naming of a NA franchise in the european manner? I like it. Historically, its the way the big football clubs are/were named.

Because we're in North America, and soccer should be trying to appeal to North American fans rather than fall into the dead end trap of appealing to an immigrant population, who have seen better soccer played elsewhere.

MLS tried to North Americanize the sport when they first set up shop. It failed horribly.

[Evil Doctor]

I think we need to make a BIG distinction here then.

2 of 3 "traditionally north american" names has "FC" in it. Is that not European inspired? (which for the record I have no problem with, I just want to understand where the line is drawn)

I drew the line there mostly because the main name is locally (and historically) inspired. Both the Whitecaps and Sounders will be referred to by those names, dropping the "FC", thus staying in my good graces.

It could also be argued that D.C. United, despite being foreign inspired is in fact a good fit for the team...

[Evil Doctor]

MLS tried to North Americanize the sport when they first set up shop. It failed horribly.

I'm not sure that is accurate. Only two teams changed their name: Dallas Burn became <gag> FC Dallas, and Kansas City Wizards became <even gaggier> Sporting Kansas City. The original names weren't exactly that great to begin with...

[officeglenn]

The top 5 MLS attendance so far...

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Only two of the Eurowannabe are in the top 5, (and the top 5 are the only teams to average over 20,000 this year.)

The others....

6th 10th 12th 13th

N/A (yet to play a home date so far, but based on previous attendance figures likely to be bottom 3)

If you can't get a team to connect with it's community, it's dead in the water.

I don't want to get too far into this debate and pull this topic further away from the concept, but you're comparing apples and oranges a little bit. For example, RFK Stadium, where DC United ? one of the your top five ? play, has a capacity of 46,000 for soccer, whereas BMO Field, where Toronto FC plays, can only hold half that at 23,000. However, I don't know what the atmosphere is like at DC United games or how many of those 46,000 seats are filled each time play, but Toronto FC games are consistently filled to the gills and the fans are raucous in their support. Thus, total attendance, I don't think, is a good indicator of how much a team connects with its community, as you say; a percentage of stadium capacity occupied might be a better statistic (and one I could not easily find for MLS on the Internet). And really, teams need only connect with their communities enough to get as many fans out as they need to break even.

As for the Hamilton City SC concept, it looks very nice. I understand why the yellow highlights in the H are there, but they may be difficult to reproduce in some applications. I'm curious, too, what sort of application the top right version is intended to mimic? Great job.

[officeglenn]

MLS tried to North Americanize the sport when they first set up shop. It failed horribly.

I'm not sure that is accurate. Only two teams changed their name: Dallas Burn became <gag> FC Dallas, and Kansas City Wizards became <even gaggier> Sporting Kansas City. The original names weren't exactly that great to begin with...

I think he meant that names like "Dallas Burn" and "Kansas City Wizards" were the attempts at North Americanization that failed miserably, as was the clock counting down from 90 minutes et al. But these innovations converted very few North Americans into soccer fans, so the league fell back in line with other leagues around the world and marketed to people who already liked soccer (and may have been put off by their earlier attempts), and it has done well since.

[Jer15]

I think we need to make a BIG distinction here then.

2 of 3 "traditionally north american" names has "FC" in it. Is that not European inspired? (which for the record I have no problem with, I just want to understand where the line is drawn)

I drew the line there mostly because the main name is locally (and historically) inspired. Both the Whitecaps and Sounders will be referred to by those names, dropping the "FC", thus staying in my good graces.

It could also be argued that D.C. United, despite being foreign inspired is in fact a good fit for the team...

Fair enough.

I agree with the point on DC United too. I think it was more convenient that it worked out that way more than anything, either way good marketing idea on DCU's part.

Here's what I don't get...why all the animosity towards using traditionally European style names in North America? The way I see it is "it's traditional for association football".

Names like Sounders and Whitecaps are ok, I understand their history and I don't hate the names because the are more "North American". But flip that over, Toronto has never really been all that successful with pro soccer (until TFC came along that is). Should we have named our MLS team the Linx or Metro-Croatia just because there was a small history? I don't think so. I love TFC, and i'll be the frist to admit Toronto FC is a bit of a boring name, but it doesn't mean that just because it sounds "European" it's bad.