Logo designs change and evolve over time. As trends change and time passes, logo designs need to be updated in order to stay current. This happens in every industry including the sports industry. Recently, several NBA teams have updated or redesigned their logo designs.
Golden State Warriors
After two long years, the Golden State Warriors finally released their new team logo design this past week. Their new logo design, as pictured below, looks vintage and it is a direct throwback to the team’s roots and history. Their new logo design is a depiction of the Bay Bridge inside a circle and it is an adaptation of the very popular “The City” uniforms that the team wore from 1966-1971. According to president Robert Rowell, "This new logo pays homage to our organization's rich history".
I love the idea of a logo design paying tribute to a team's history. I think this leaves the team's fans with a sense of nostalgia and pride for their team. I also really like that they used the Bay Bridge in their logo design. The Bay Bridge connects Oakland to San Francisco and by using this bridge in their logo design, they are including the entire bay area.
Even though overall I like this new vintage logo design for the Golden State Warriors, there are two things that I don't really like about it. I don’t really like how they used the Copperplate font in their logo design. For me, this font is too formal and classic for a modern basketball team. I also don’t like how that word “Warriors” is so much larger than the words “Golden State”. I think that this throws the balance of the design off and that this imbalance is distracting to the eye. Personally, I would have set all the type in the same size.
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic have used only two logo designs in the 21-year history of the franchise. Their newest logo design is an updated version of their previous logo design with only a few changes. The biggest change is that this new and updated Orlando Magic logo design uses a straight-lettered, modern font instead of the handwritten font that was used in their teams past logo design. Another small change is that a star is no longer being used to represent the 'A' in 'Magic' in the new logo design. The iconic star ball that was present in the old logo design was again integrated into the new logo design.
I do like the new logo design for the Orlando Magic more than their past logo design. The basic elements of both the old and new logo designs are still there. I really like how by simply changing the font, the new logo design looks more modern and clean. In my opinion, the old font was amateur and childish. This new font was a good choice. I also like how they kept the team's original logo design colours: blue, black and silver. Overall, I think that the Orlando Magic new logo design is a stronger, cleaner and more timeless design. It is a grown up version of the team's earlier logo design mirroring the Orlando Magic's actual evolution and growth as a team over the past 21 years.
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz also updated their logo design this year. In fact, there wasn’t much change to the actual logo design itself. It was more of a revamp of the colours that were used in their logo design. Their new blue logo design is to replace their old purple logo design. According to the Utah Jazz president, Randy Rigby, this is actually the Utah Jazz’s secondary logo. The mountain logo that the Utah Jazz have been using since the 1996-1997 season is their primary logo however the secondary Jazz logo is often prominently featured.
I like this logo a lot. I love that it is simple, timeless and I especially like how a basketball and a music note are both integrated into the “J” of “Jazz”. I actually also really liked how the word “Utah” was included in the original logo design. I think it is too bad that they decided to remove this in the new logo design.
What do you think? Do you agree with my opinions or these three logo redesigns?
