Logo reaction thread

Discussion in 'Portland Timbers' started by pc4th, Jun 12, 2010.

  1. pc4th

    pc4th New Member

    Jun 14, 2003
    North Poll
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  2. BacteriaEP

    BacteriaEP New Member

    Apr 13, 2009
    Portland
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I like it. Not as much as the original, but they kept many of the features:

    1. The ax
    2. The tree.
    3. The circle

    I think they should have toned down the ax a bit in size though, as thats definitely giving off a cartoony vibe.
     
  3. Grave27

    Grave27 Member

    Jun 27, 2008
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The crest it self looks better then art work. Cartoony vibe to me comes more from the art work ver. of the crest.
     
  4. OleGunnar20

    OleGunnar20 Member+

    Dec 7, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    what did anybody expect from a design firm that specializes in traditional "cartoony"/"americanized" sports logos for NBA/Minor League Baseball/College and High School teams?

    http://raredesign.com/

    just check under the "what" tab in the sports column (be sure to drag down the bar to scroll thru all of the hideous designs to their credit).

    who on earth in the Timbers FO approved of using these hacks?

    and weirdest of all. the 4 promo videos were so well done. stylish, hip and very well done. when the logo showed at the end of the video it seemed entirely out of place. the probably should have gotten whoever did the videos to do the logo.
     
  5. Gioca

    Gioca Member

    Jun 13, 2004
    Hartford
    Club:
    US Città di Palermo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's really minor league...like 90's minor league cheesy. Bring back the old crest.
     
  6. A Hugh Jass

    A Hugh Jass Member

    Nov 15, 2009
    Myrtle Beach
    Club:
    Fulham FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    do you think they will bring the old one back if there is enough of a call for it?
     
  7. Nacional Tijuana

    Nacional Tijuana St. Louis City

    St. Louis City SC
    May 6, 2003
    San Diego, Calif.
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's kind Survivorish.
     
  8. Sport Billy

    Sport Billy Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 25, 2006
    I think the fans' reaction says it all :(

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaVsiCIEMEo"]YouTube- Portland Timbers logo unveiling at Director Park[/ame]


    WARNING: Language
     
  9. BacteriaEP

    BacteriaEP New Member

    Apr 13, 2009
    Portland
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That was the TA. Most would have have boo'd anything that wasn't the original crest as many were vehemently against changing it.
     
  10. Papin

    Papin BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 19, 1998
    le côté obscur
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's a beer logo, not a crest.
    Bring back the old one!
     
  11. KdaleB

    KdaleB Member

    Mar 11, 1999
    Vancouver, WA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't like it. I had intended to ask my wife her opinion in a neutral way (probably by sending an e-mail tomorrow) but leaked the question early and in a way that didn't exactly hide my negative feelings on the logo.

    But after looking at it for a few seconds, she decided that she liked the new logo better than the old logo. I don't get it, but I just mention it to remind us that there is life outside BigSoccer chic, and it's that life outside of here that will determine how profitable the Timbers are in MLS.
     
  12. OleGunnar20

    OleGunnar20 Member+

    Dec 7, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC

    this is a very good point. and one i briefly mentioned earlier. this logo is very much in the wheelhouse of "americanized" sports. it has the same heavy, cartoony lines that most sports logos have. this might very well appeal to non-soccer or peripheral soccer fans. but the question things like a logo or crest don't really matter that much to those fans, they are likely to accept what ever they are given in terms of branding. but a thing like a crest matters very much to the hard core soccer supporters. who do you gear your branding towards i guess is a question each FO has to answer. your core fans, hoping that you can perfect a true and unique soccer culture that will then attract non fans or do you go with the "sports marketing" approach and reach out primarily to new more mainstream non soccer or soccer-lite fans and hope to not alienate your core support.

    it will be interesting to see which approach works best as i think in the Caps and Timbers branding this week we have an example of each approach. maybe they will both work. maybe neither will. there will be more to it than just the crest/logo/uniforms. they are but one part of building a successful team and brand. an important part to be sure but just one part all the same.

    for me. and for many others this round goes to Vancouver.
     
  13. drSoFlaFan

    drSoFlaFan DEFEND THE FORT!

    Feb 25, 2008
    Plantation, FL
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I like the idea, but it looks a bit too "cartoony" for the Timbers. They kept the colors and all the core elements of the old one, but it just looks off. Could've been worse though, they could have used that circular saw blade shape they had on their website for awhile...

    I agree with the previous comment that it doesn't really go at all with the style of the teaser videos that made up the final unveiling video.

    I can feel for any Timbers fans who want to keep the current crest. Barring a fan uprising which I am currently trying to stir up, my beloved Marlins are going to change their colors in 2012 and I'm venomously opposed to that(in fact I lost my job with the team over it :mad:). Things as simple as colors or a logo can mean so much more to fans than they ever will to a team owner.

    Anyway congrats on the new logo Portland(to those of you that like it anyway)! You guys are gonna be great for MLS.
     
  14. wizardswarrior

    May 1, 2009
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    As one who grew up in Seattle, my initial reaction was that it reminded me of the Sonics' logo of the '90s...what others here have described as "cartoonish." It's unfortunate. However, in the scheme of things there will be a long and storied future for this foot ball club and at some point someone will correct this minor blunder. In the same way the Sounders fans just cried foul when some genius decided to pick Timbers' yellow for Seattle's third kit...a blunder which will similarly have to have to be corrected at some point. Columbus's logo still reminds me of Bob the Builder and my Wizards' logo looks like it belongs on an office building filled with cubicles :) When push comes to shove hardware matters, logos don't.
     
  15. OleGunnar20

    OleGunnar20 Member+

    Dec 7, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    well said.

    of course you might just get an actual crest/logo next year instead of WordArt. so things are looking up.

    and even if you don't that stadium you have flying up right now looks mighty nice ....:D
     
  16. Ganapper

    Ganapper Member

    Apr 5, 2009
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And yet, as hideous as that kit is, I still get blinded by it because people actually bought the damn thing. So even though I consider it a complete eyesore, the inner child in others decided it was a good idea to look like they've drawn highlighter yellow all over themselves.
     
  17. Yankee_Devil

    Yankee_Devil Member

    Nov 13, 2005
    San Diego, CA
    Wow and I waited that long for that. I mean it is the long dragged out process that bothers me the most.

    I mean how long does it take to come up with essentially is "shit on stick." I mean all you need is two elements that all people have plenty off and which this organization proves uses in a ample quantities.

    Shit: The crap they have been feeding the fans for a year and half about how they were going to stay true to the Portland history and how it would be something they were going to be proud of.

    Stick: The thing that they just put up the ass of every Timber fan and Soccer fans in this country.

    Every time I see one of these they just seem to get worst and worst.
     
  18. A Hugh Jass

    A Hugh Jass Member

    Nov 15, 2009
    Myrtle Beach
    Club:
    Fulham FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    so whats the reaction of the casual soccer fan in portland? do they like it or do they feel the same as yall
     
  19. blackedoutfriction

    Jan 10, 2009
    Portland
    I was there. There was a polite applause from the casual fan. Nothing I would call excitement.

    As for the TA's reaction. When you go on for almost a year with the club telling you, "we're not going to show it to any of you but trust us you'll love what we've done," the club had better get it right. As for this it leaked the night before. The TA knew what the crest looked like. Merritt Paulson was warned what the reaction would be. I heard Mike Golub talking to Drew Mahalic of Oregon Sports Authority and both of them seemed to know what the reaction would be. I know Mike did because people told him. It was all over the Timbers Army message board and Twitter for chrissakes. The front office should have controlled the situation and once again they thought that no matter what they were right. The TA, who the front office said repeatedly they owed the MLS franchise to, was basically told to shove it. If they didn't want anything to ruin their unveiling they should have simply unveiled the badge at a presser and only invited the press.

    For quite a few of those TA booing they have been there since the NASL days. This front office has been around since 2006. It's personal with a lot of the old school people. Think of it like this. Just because Leeds is moving into the Premiership are they changing their badge? Did they change their badge when they were put into administration and relegated? Using what I have heard from this front office that is what they think should happen.
     
  20. gstommylee

    gstommylee Member+

    Oct 3, 2008
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    I agree that the front office should have handled it better.
     
  21. BacteriaEP

    BacteriaEP New Member

    Apr 13, 2009
    Portland
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Big difference. You absolutely can't compare being promoted into the Premiership to buying a franchise in MLS. The EPL works completely different and in a sports landscape that doesn't have to rely on finding more people to fill up the stadium, or even get media attention from local newspapers/television stations. The MLS and clubs in America do. It was a forgone conclusion that the Timbers would need a new crest, for better or worse... like it or not.

    Now I don't know about the inner workings of the TA as I don't get involved with the politics of it all. Too messy for me. (I just want to sing and cheer) Hell, even the official TA forums are too much for me to handle. But from what I know, ever since Merrit and the current FO took control things have been MUCH better for the TA, so much so that they actually get to meet with the FO on a regular basis to discuss issues such as this.

    If true, then that's a much better perk to have than to simply have the same crest as the past 6 years.

    Should the TA have been brought in on the process? Yes. In fact, I'd be surprised if some of them weren't. That would be a stupid ass move by the FO, so stupid, in fact, that I don't really believe that some of the higher members weren't included in the design process, at least preliminary stages.
     
  22. Wazzu Gunner

    Wazzu Gunner Member

    Mar 21, 2008
    Ballard, WA
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Portland fail.
     
  23. Timber Fanatic

    Apr 22, 2005
    Portland Oregon
    Well you should be very surprised then. TA was not consulted at all. Not even for "hey we're thinking of doing something like this what do you think"?
    Over the years The Timbers FO has seen an ungodly amount of Timbers Army produced soccer swag that is "miles better" than anything the Timbers organization has ever put out. We have so much talent in that area it's just sick. Artistic professional offers were given to the FO to help out in the design. Sadly, all were turned down in favor of going with the company that has turned out some of the most hideously juvenile cartoonish logos you've ever seen. Go the NHL website and look at the team logos, specifically the Columbus blue jackets. It was designed by the same firm.

    Supposedly the new badge/logo was almost a year in the design process. I guess multiple focus groups were consulted. How they came up with what they did baffles and mystifies me. Back in Sept of 2009 Merrit Paulsen wrote on SoccerCityUSA.com, ( the TA website created and run by Allison Andrews), ..." trust me...we're just updating and tweaking. You won't be dissapointed"! Well, judging from the collective hush and Icy silence that followed the unveiling, I can honestly say "WE WERE DISAPPOINTED".

    Heck, the easiest thing they could have done was at least get the colors right. They couldn't even do that. Dark green, Gold/yellow and white are the Timbers colors. How did Moss green, (a weird glowy yellow green) get in the mix?

    When I watched the unveiling and viewed that "new and improved" logo, I could only think to myself "my god, to think that he paid hundreds of thousands of bucks for that. Artistic people in the TA have sat down at their computers and in an afternoon produced better and more stylish work.


    The timbers FO (and Merrit) were told the day before the unveiling, by quite a few people who had seen the new logo, prepare for a shite storm cause you got this wrong in so many ways. You will not get a pleasant reception at all. But they proceeded as planned, and they got what was foretold to them. So for them to proceed anyway, and then stand there and look pissed when the boos and catcalls came raining down was foolish.

    We had a stylish, elegant, clean, simple, and historic logo that was well known by the soccer community across the land. It was recognizable....IT WAS TIMBERS! That being said, we knew it was going to be tweaked and we were ok with that as long as they didn't F it up. But they did.

    Come September, I can only imagine what absolute crap they're going to offer up as the new kit.
     
  24. blackedoutfriction

    Jan 10, 2009
    Portland
    I was trying to think of a good analogy since the US doesn't have promotion/relegation. The simple fact is we have a club, we have a history, we have a badge. Updating that badge in this way was the wrong choice. All I'm saying is we aren't a new club. We have a team that competes with MLS teams in the US Open Cup.


    Actually...as someone very involved with the inner workings of the TA I can tell you with authority that nobody in the TA saw the badge until the night before when it was leaked on Twitter. I'm being honest about that. They kept it under total secrecy. For the past year and a half I've worked closely liaisoning between the TA and the front office. I know every single person that functions in this capacity. Nobody saw the thing. They didn't ask opinions. Nothing.
     
  25. OleGunnar20

    OleGunnar20 Member+

    Dec 7, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    pictures say everything words fail to encompase:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong ...
     

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