A graphic discussion about the NFL's graphics

Of course, I am just a layperson; a rube on the couch.

What do I know?

For a more detailed critique, I could think of no better man than Dave Mann of Milwaukee, who has designed a number of minor-league sports logos and has done fabulous work for me on various logo-related projects.

Without further ado... here's more than you ever wanted to know about the new logo.

FROM: Dave Mann
RE: New NFL Logo

Czabe,

Clearly this "new" logo is not terribly done. It's neither an embarrassment nor a PR stumble in and of itself. In general, I think the NFL does a terrific job with its logos across the board.

1) The swap from "royal" blue to navy blue is going on everywhere in design circles. I won't hold the NFL responsible for that trend. It also DOES increase the contrast of the image.

2) The football is probably an overall improvement. The old one looked like a hamburger. I like the tie-in to the Lombardi Trophy and the increased size in relation to the rest of the logo.

3) I find the eight starts problematic. They are certainly clearer than before and easier to reproduce for vendors. And now that they "symbolize" each of the eight league divisions, it is theoretically a more representative logo. My problem is that now the blue field just looks too empty. I don't know what the proper solution would have been. 12 stars? 13? 15? 16? If the previous 25 stars signified nothing then I feel the NFL was free to pick whatever number of stars looked best, and eight is not that number. Plus, now they'd better hope they hold at eight divisions for quite a while.

4) My main technical problem with this entire logo is indeed with the "NFL" font itself. The old-style, curly letters didn't mirror the bottom of the shield PERFECTLY, but it was darned close. The new "F" is not truly centered in this new text treatment. Well, let me correct that. It IS centered, but the serif on the ascender bleeds over the center point to the right.

So, while the "N" and the "L" are both sloping evenly downward toward the center of the shield, they are not sloping evenly toward the center of the "F" and thus, APPEAR off. Make sense? This is something the curvy old lettering did a much better job of. Which of course makes sense, the old curvy NFL lettering was designed to go in that shield. The new NFL text was not. Classic square peg / round hole retro-fit. Which leads me to my next point...

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9 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by allthistime on Sept. 10, 2007 at 3:38 p.m. (report)

What a trivial thing to rant and rave about. This article is waste of your resources, onMilwaukee.com Everybody updates thier logo from time to time, even you. Havn't you got bigger fish to fry?

Posted by DukeLaCrosse on Sept. 8, 2007 at 9:56 a.m. (report)

Is it too much to ask for 8 laces on the damn ball? Is caricature what we want in official emblems?

Posted by mannloon on Sept. 6, 2007 at 1:39 a.m. (report)

David, you correct. That L and that lack of stars are pretty bullocks. I can't believe they printed one of your rants I know so well, I hope people understand you speak the truth. If anyone wants to hear a rant about changes made by Fender to Gretsch guitars, just wait, the younger Mann brother has yet to figure out how to get that printed.

Posted by swankboy on Sept. 5, 2007 at 2:16 p.m. (report)

What's more annoying than this logo change is more and more websites posting articles/blogs on multiple pages to increase page hits. Put it all on one page, I can scroll!

Posted by patrickm1964 on Sept. 5, 2007 at 1:09 p.m. (report)

New NFL logo is an improvement...particularly the color change and ball position/look. Is Czaban going to forward his OMC check to Mann for this article?

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