Vote for SPHL Team Logo!
Thursday · Jul 9 · 2009 | 8:27 AM PDTThis is a story that Johnny over at PuckDrawn has been following for quite some time. Last month the SPHL's newest member, the Pensacola Ice Flyers (not to be confused with the defunct ECHL club Pensacola Ice Pilots) announced they were looking for a logo and accepting fan submissions.
The team said that a vote would be held for two weeks beginning July 1 on the Pensacola News Journal's web site. After being delayed by more than a week, that poll is finally live. There are four finalists to choose from. Here's a preview.
Here's a quick breakdown of the Icethetics assessment:
Logo 1: Gradients? Really? This isn't a logo. Far too intricate and detailed to be a good, recognizable mark for embroidery on jerseys and hats.
Logo 2: Solid effort. The team will take care of making the gold more eye-friendly if they choose it, but overall it's a strong classic design. The only issue it has is that minor league expansion franchises must have an integrated wordmark in order to properly build the brand. That's the only thing this logo is lacking.
Logo 3: Easily my favorite of the batch, but then I may be slightly biased. This design comes from SixZero, who entered a lot of concepts into the IceHL competition (which will return soon). In fact, he has over a dozen more concepts for the Ice Flyers here worth checking out (link from PuckDrawn).
Logo 4: This one has all the necessary elements for a minor league logo, including a sharp wordmark and a very identifiable secondary logo. The problem is in the minute detail of the primary mark. I think this might be solved by making each of the five planes much bigger.
Overall, Icethetics recommends Logo 3 if you're voting. It's even in the lead with 43% of the nearly 700 votes at the present time.
By the way, stuff like this always comes with a disclaimer. Despite offering the illusion that fans will be choosing their team's new logo, this is by no means the case. Obviously, team ownership and management will have the final say. The News Journal is quick to point out that this poll is for entertainment purposes only.
Happy voting!
Reader Comments (8)
I could swear I saw #1 on a t-shirt rack at the Harley Davidson store.
2nd and 3rd logos are the only ones that seem to work for me. The top-left one does bear a striking resemblance to the Harley Davidson logos....
Congrats to SixZero for having his work chosen as a finalist!
The SixZero logo is by far the best, but the jersey itself is just too busy. Fewer stripes and piping would help the great logo to stand out. The rivets along the stripes are a cool touch.
The last one is going to get caught by the locals as having a fatal flaw. The planes in formation is a great idea, but those are not the jets the Blue Angels use (who are based there in Pensacola). Trivial to us, perhaps, but a source of pride down in the panhandle.
The upper right submission is definately a strong effort. Working the prop and front plane into a "P" would have been a cool addition. The uni itself is VERY strong. Clean and simple....just like the logo.
The first one...not so much. It's Harley Davidson meets the Blue Angels meets the Presidential Seal.
Glovesave, I'm sure the team would edit the jersey slightly if the fans chose SixZero's design, so there is a good possibility it would work on the ice.
Have to go for number 3 for two reasons. I love any crest that has a plane in it, and I'm a sucker for good numbers.
I don't like the 1st or 4th logos. The 2nd one looks unique and like a classic hockey logo, i just wish the main crest had a P hidden in it..
The 3rd has potential but the logo is so complicated that it comes off looking like a minor league hockey team, which i guess is what they are. The 3rd jersey violated 2 of my big hockey sweater No-Nos (overcomplicated piping and random striping stopping for no reason, & black for the sake of black) Everyone has a black sweater it's boring nowadays.
Nothing says bush league like the word 'ice' in front of the name. Was 'Ice Flyerzz' not available?
The bottom left concept is phenomenal, but the jersey with the rivets is definetly way better. Congratulations to SixZero!!