Elite Football League of India

[rams80]

I hope we can improve our treatment of one another moving forward Brian.

As do I, Mr. O'Grady.

Shots right out of the box speak volumes of why we should agree to pay more respect to one another.

My so-called "shot" was a response to your rather sophomoric attempt to pass yourself off as a random visitor to the CCSLC who was simply brimming with excitement to gush over Gameplan Creative's work on behalf of the Elite Football League of India.

As I've asked previously, why the attempt at duplicity? Why not simply enter the CCSLC as yourself, offer-up a sincere apology for your previous boorish behavior in these forums, pledge a commitment to conducting yourself like a mature professional in this community moving forward, and ask members of the community to share their honest assessments of Gameplan's EFLI branding packages?

Slinking into this community and trumpeting your work under pseudonyms is just more of the same behavior that drew the ire of this community's members in the first place. As such, I responded with a comment that was meant to communicate that many of us are no more tolerant of such antics now than we were when you first engaged in them.

Bottom line? "[M]oving forward" is going to require you to pay more than just lip-service to making amends for your previous ill-mannered behavior in the CCSLC. When you're ready to do so, I suspect that members of the CCSLC - myself included - will be ready to engage in a mutually-respectful relationship.

If I posted the username of Tom O'Grady and had a link to Gameplan Creative... would you have honestly given me a chance to post? It was not intended as a ploy or workaround nor to be underhanded... it was IMO the only entrance back in...

After this I shall leave it to BIB...

But wasn't coming in under that username a ploy AND a workaround? I won't go so far as to call it underhanded, but in all honesty, you did it to "work around" past problems.

The best way you could spin it was as a very poorly executed attempt at viral marketing.

[Panthers]

By the way, India, you only told a small, small fraction of the Pete Rozelle story and I think it was misused.

Rozelle had an even bigger contribution. He lobbied Congress to allow the league to package the tv rights for all the teams and let them share equally. Hence, it leveled the playing field. It was the modern forerunner of all sports broadcast properties. Yes, Rozelle viewed TV as a growth portal, and yes, Monday Night Football happened partially because of him. But please tell the entire story.

Secondly, you should note that the Oilers were an AFL franchise and the AFL came about because the NFL owners, specifically the Bidwells that owned and still own the Cardinals, would not sell the team. Bud Adams tried to buy the team and was interested in moving the team to Houston, or getting an NFL expansion franchise. Buffalo, another AFL city, made a bid for the Cardinals as well. So did Minneapolis. It wasn't until the AFL placed a team in Dallas that the NFL expanded to Texas.

You really should know your history before (mis)using it.

[touchdownindia]

Rams80- I apologized for my boorish behavior in the past. You can continue to pick at the past... but clearly my intent is to engage in positive relevant discussions... I am letting it go. So my apologies.... If you can't accept so be it...

[touchdownindia]

Panthers- Great point. Another factor in favor of Rozelle is that when he understood the lack of national sports programming. The MLB Game of the Week being the only national programming, as well as bowling, boxing and an occasion NBA game on the Dumont soon to be ABC Network. Rozelle provided sports programming to a country dying for sports and football after the Colts/Giants OT Championship Game.

Same concept in India.

[Viper]

For the most part, I like these logos/IDs. The only one that rubs me the wrong way is the "Defenders" nickname for Delhi, which is, for obvious reasons, wholly inappropriate for one-half of the squad.

[FiddySicks]

For the most part, I like these logos/IDs. The only one that rubs me the wrong way is the "Defenders" nickname for Delhi, which is, for obvious reasons, wholly inappropriate for one-half of the squad.

From the looks of their web site, they've already changed the Delhi Defenders to the Delhi Royal Fleet. One could speculate MANY reasons for the quick change...

[slapshot]

What IceCap said...

A few observations on your firm's work Tom.

The league logo is solid, but the name is terrible. Why not just call it the Elite Football League? After all we have the NFL, not the NFLA.

The Goa Swarm, Hyderabad Kings, and Kolkata Vipers have solid looks all around, but the use of the nickname initial over the city initial bugs me. I usually prefer letter based logos to reflect the city rather then name of the team.

The Mumbai Gladiators identity is a mess. Gladiatorial combat, as known throughout popular culture, was a Roman institution. It seems odd to use such a western/Euro-centric concept as the basis for an Indian sports team.

While I really like the Delhi Defenders logo, the crown is a no-no. You already have a team named the Kings that uses the crown prominently in their logo. Using a crown in another team's logo undermines the Kings' identity. Especially when there's no real reason for a team named the Defenders to use a crown.

All in all this is a professionally done league wide package with a few minor problems here and there. While you're rightfully proud of your firm's work here I honestly don't see this league taking off. Cricket is king in India, and soccer's a relatively distant second. I think the EFLI will be lucky if it manages to carve out a stable niche for itself.

What Tom hears:

The league logo is solid

The Goa Swarm, Hyderabad Kings, and Kolkata Vipers have solid looks all around

The Mumbai Gladiators identity is ... the basis for an Indian sports team.

I really like the Delhi Defenders logo

this is a professionally done league wide package

you're rightfully proud of your firm's work here

I think the EFLI will be lucky

I guess Egypt is not the only the land of denial.

[Egon084]

My suggestion, Mr. O'Grady? Behave like a mature professional - starting by offering-up an apology for the egregiously antagonistic and sophomoric behavior you've engaged in in this community in the past - and you may well find the CCSLC membership - old and new alike - more open to engaging in a respectful exchange of ideas and opinions with you.

If an apology would allow me the valued input and opinions from 20 and 30 something males (who for the "most" part have their pulse on the nature of the sports branding industry) then by all means my sincere apologies. At the end of the day, I have always tried to heighten the level of respect in the "design" community for sports branding... and while I see some good work these days, I still think there's a LONG way to go. The level of logo design, team uniforms and venue branding has a lot of room for improvement.

I would welcome the chance to stir the drink on some of these topics. Similar to how Paul Lukas sometimes handles his logo creep critiques (but I don't mind purple and I don't get too caught up on what the 1930 Yankees under the brim color was) LOL... because we can't fix what's in past--- BUT... future sports logo designers can improve attitudes towards sports graphic design... That's my mission.

Thanks-

Tom O'Grady

Looking for 20 - 30 something males to look at you work and give C&C? Well I don't know you from Jack and right off the bat I see where these folks are coming from. To be brash enough to criticize peoples work, produced or not, is mind blowing. As a native Charlottean, I have the amazing pleasure of being victimized by you work every year. How can you produce the Charlotte Bobcats logo, uniform and brand; and make the above comment in bold? I understand the pressure that the NBA had from Bob Johnson and his narcissism, but I'm sure future sports logo designers want to see their vision on the field of play. I have several design sheets from what were the concepts of the Bobcats. Dragons and Flight, and all were better than what is out on the court. The people of Charlotte are screaming for a logo change, along with a name change. Part of that has to do with Bob Johnson, but more to do with how god awful that logo is. The primary logo isn't even used here locally anymore on anything. The franchise has tried to run screaming from the brand you came up with but are limited due to the fees that the NBA would impose on MJ to rebrand the team.

This is my first post on here, an I apologize for being so blunt, but what was said was just laughable. My wife who isn't a sports fan, got a good chuckle out of you post as well when she saw that you did the Bobcats initial design. In the end it is people like her that matter when designing a sports logo. Not us who will C&C it to death, but the fan who takes pride in their team. That logo says more about a person than anything else in the world. This is my home, these are my colors, this is my team.

I am not a professional sports logo designer but I do like to see different levels of work on here. From ones that make you cringe at someone MS Paint "skills" to one that make you wonder how can that not be on the field. If you really wish to elevate the community, please learn some tact in how you put your words to "paper" and post on here. I highly doubt you speak to your clients in such a way.

On topic add me to the list who doesn't like the gladiators logo. To me the head, shield and swords are scaled wrong.

[raysox]

For the most part, I like these logos/IDs. The only one that rubs me the wrong way is the "Defenders" nickname for Delhi, which is, for obvious reasons, wholly inappropriate for one-half of the squad.

From the looks of their web site, they've already changed the Delhi Defenders to the Delhi Royal Fleet. One could speculate MANY reasons for the quick change...

Link? I can't find it.

[Brian in Boston]

Sincere apologies to all who I might have offended.

Greatly appreciated, Mr. O'Grady.

Better days ahead.

One truly hopes so. I know that so long as you're truly willing to make the effort to establish said "etter days" through behaving in a mature and professional manner, I'm willing to welcome your contributions to the CCSLC with an open mind.

Thanks for your patience Brian.

You're most welcome. Thank you for being big enough to recognize that your initial behavior in this community was less than exemplary and, just as importantly, being willing to adjust said behavior moving forward.

[KJTALBOT]

Overall, nice job on the logos. I like the Punjab Warriors the best.

[KJTALBOT]

I love the Delhi Defenders helmet. Almost all of them look great.

However, I'm not a fan of the Gladiators identity.

[Panthers]

India:

One other thing. NFL Properties was set up as a charitable arm of the NFL to donate proceeds to various charities the NFL supported. Not until mass merchandising became a craze did Rozelle realize what a juggernaut it could be.

He is also due credit for taking a chance on Ed Sabol and folding Sabol's company into the NFL family. NFL Films was just as responsible for bringing the game to the masses as television. As an aside - and I bet you didn't know this - the more contemporary tunes that started to come out in '74-'75-'76 were penned by jazz musicians like Martha Jane Weber (two famous tunes of hers are Lonely Ride http://www.youtube.com/user/1975NFL1#p/c/06D083904ECC2A68/10/xFP5JC_qPYs and Here Comes Da Heat - second tune http://www.youtube.com/user/1975NFL1#p/c/06D083904ECC2A68/3/65UHeD9zzIE).

If you can somehow harness this kind of energy and bring it to the masses, then anything is possible.

[rtrich11]

I'm going to admit just skimming the thread, so if I reiterate something already spoken about, sorry.

Anyway, I like some helmets/logos more than others. On the Goa Swarm I like the composition. Maybe the wings bother me a bit with the pointyness, but overall like.

Really like the Punjab Warriors because it has a different cultural feel to it. Like the inspiration isn't borrowed from America, but still looks good on a helmet.

As for the Black Tigers, the purple gets lost, but the name does suck most, overall. That's not a design decision, but a bad hand, like having to work with RiverHawks or RiverFrogs, or whatever an owner thinks of.

For Wordmarks, I'm not nuts about the Sky kings or the Vipers, but the rest are serviceable and fine. They go for more elegance than power, but maybe that's what the idea was.

[Slickster]

I'd assume the EFLI has 'of India' at the end to prevent it from being mistaken for another American football league based stateside.

I find it interesting that the EFLI is literally training people in the rules and strategies of the sport and then hiring them to COACH players (who have also never played the sport). Great concept to create a culture of Indian-born American football players years down the line, but in the short term I'm afraid this will make for some not-very-good football since nobody (coaches nor players) will have had more than 18 months experience playing the game.

[obiwantok]

Tom:

Since you are led the creation of the identities for this league, is there any chance you could share some behind-the-scenes information that led to these team names and logos? My favorite parts of Plan B. Branding's Clink Room are the series that chronicle the creation of identity packages from research to sketches to final logos; any chance you might be able to give the same kind of insider's perspective here? I'd be especially interested since this league must have included both the struggles of a normal project with additional challenges of working in a different cultural market.

[touchdownindia]

Dear obiwantok- Great idea. One that we must do. Unfortunately it has to wait for a while since we have to design the EFLI football, uniforms, practicewear and other merchandising products ASAP. Stay tuned though, this will happen at a later date. Again, great idea!!!!

[touchdownindia]

What IceCap said...

A few observations on your firm's work Tom.

The league logo is solid, but the name is terrible. Why not just call it the Elite Football League? After all we have the NFL, not the NFLA.

The Goa Swarm, Hyderabad Kings, and Kolkata Vipers

have solid looks all around, but the use of the nickname initial over the city initial bugs me. I usually prefer letter based logos to reflect the city rather then name of the team.

The Mumbai Gladiators identity is a mess. Gladiatorial combat, as known throughout popular culture, was a Roman institution. It seems odd to use such a western/Euro-centric concept as the basis for an Indian sports team.

While I really like the Delhi Defenders logo, the crown is a no-no. You already have a team named the Kings that uses the crown prominently in their logo. Using a crown in another team's logo undermines the Kings' identit

Especially when there's no real reason for a team named the Defenders to use a crown.

All in all this is a professionally done league wide package with a few minor problems here and there. While you're rightfully proud of your firm's work here I honestly don't see this league taking off. Cricket is king in India, and soccer's a relatively distant second. I think the EFLI will be lucky if it manages to carve out a stable niche for itself.

Delhi Defenders griffin logo was modeled from the steps of the capital building in Delhi (New Delhi) and in the famous pose the griffin features a crown. Hence the crown used in the Defenders mark.

What Tom hears:

The league logo is solid

The Goa Swarm, Hyderabad Kings, and Kolkata Vipers have solid looks all around

The Mumbai Gladiators identity is ... the basis for an Indian sports team.

I really like the Delhi Defenders logo

this is a professionally done league wide package

you're rightfully proud of your firm's work here

I think the EFLI will be lucky

I guess Egypt is not the only the land of denial.

[Island_Style]

Still say a team called the Blacktigers with an orange tiger as a logo is flat out dumb. Piss poor effort. The explanation you gave me tells me you gave up because you weren't capable to make it work. Shame on you. Hire better people.

[touchdownindia]

Entitled to your opinion. But maybe the uniform will be black? And maybe the logo will then pop off the black background and enhance the "Black" Tigers logo. And course you are talking about it so that only reinforces ita brand recognition. BlackTigers will be abbreviated to Tigers shortly anyway...

Maple Leafs are green?

Blackhawks wear black jerseys?

Bruins wear brown jerseys?

Broncos wear navy blue?

Sometimes, the best programs are the ones that are not predictable... IMO.