Predators New Logos Unveiled!
Wednesday · Jun 22 · 2011 | 11:54 AM PDTThe new and simplified logos for the Nashville Predators were unveiled today in Las Vegas, where the NHL Awards will be held tonight. Here's your first look at the new marks, debuting this fall.
Predators new logos unveiled / Predators
Smashville 24/7 provided its readers with the best look at the marks which now feature only blue, gold and white, dropping the orange, steel blue and silver from the old identity. The logos were officially on display on the Predators' website.
The new primary logo is a simplified version of the mark the Predators have used since their inception in 1998. It's much cleaner and more refined than the previous version. And best of all, it retains the unique identity of the team rather than going back to the drawing board completely.
There are two new secondary logos, including the NP lettermark which we first saw on the side of Pekka Rinne's new mask back in April. The other mark is in the shape of a guitar pick — perfect for a team in Nashville, the home of country music. And perhaps most notably, it honors its home state with the symbol found on the Tennessee state flag.
If we're being nitpicky, the stars aren't technically positioned accurately if they're trying to match the state flag. You can look it up for yourself to compare. Perhaps it will be fixed in time for the uniforms.
Finally, the new wordmark is probably the logo most similar to its predecessor. The text is positioned in the same way, but a new typeface is introduced. I think it looks more... "toothy."
All in all, I have to give this new identity high marks. They're taking their logo out of the '90s, simplifying it, yet not straying too far from the path that's worked for them. Regarding the jerseys for next season, I can't wait to see them.
Several reports have said the new road sweater will be revealed this weekend during the draft. It's worth noting the Predators do not currently own a first round pick, not to say that can't change. These same reports suggest the home jersey will make its first public appearance at the Predators' Skate of the Union event in July. I haven't seen an exact date for that yet.
In addition, RLD Hockey is reporting that Nashville will retire their current third jersey and stick with their two new uniforms next season.
Reader Comments (47)
I kinda like it, it has sort of a 70's feel to it. I like this direction the Preds are going in and they finally they can get rid of their horrible home and away jerseys.
I like them. I can't wait to see how these logos will look with the new rumored gold jerseys.
love em all. hate that the 3rds are going away, but i love the new. nicely done, Preds.
I like everything I see here - but I always liked the Sabre Tooth Skull shoulder patch - I would have liked them to keep that...
Ah, it's a reference to the Tennessee flag and not Dragonball...
Kinda wish it was a dragonball, though. That'd be nicely random.
Freakin' Brilliant.
They need to start manufacturing usable guitar picks.
Right. Now.
I like it. They just got rid of 90's.
I like the simplification. The duo-tone is much cleaner and more iconic. Removing the faux-chrome look instantly makes the logo feel timeless, rather than being firmly set in the late-90's.
They seem to have lengthened the cat's head, giving it a faster look that I'm not sure I like just yet. I think of a sabre-toothed cat as a muscular and brutish sort of beast. Another nitpick is the removal of the eyelid fold beneath the eye. With the nose all scrunched up, it looks weird now to have a snarl without that eyelid fold. The eyes just seem to open and less terrifying. All really nitpicky, art-snobby sort of issues, I'm aware. I just feel like the cat looks a bit less tough now.
I'm looking forward to seeing the sweaters. This team has gone from being one of the worst-designed, in my opinion, to something much more attractive.
I love the 2nd logo.
beautiful! perfectly simplified, they got it right, well done nashville!
Major improvement. Definitely a positive evolution.
Overall, I like it, but there is something bugging me about the yellow stripe going across the predator's face. Maybe it would look better in all white? Or would that be too plain?
Love the new logos! People have done mock-ups without the yellow stripe in the logo. Ends up looking way too plain.
Not impressed. It's kinda cheesy and too plain... reminds me of the Buffaslug. Loved the black and blue theme they started last season.... very sad to see it go. The gold out stuff they started during the playoffs is bad luck anyways. Oh well, that new rumored gold jersey will look fantastic hanging up in my closet all season. But hey, maybe it'll blind our opponents! :)
I love how they fine-tuned the main logo. The other three logos give the franchise some personality.
Much, much, much cleaner! Only thing I'd do is reduce the fang length.
Looking at the old and new side by side...I cannot believe how much better the new marks are! This is a great, clean feel and it finally feels like we have a saber-tooth cat as a mascot, not a lifeless robot.
Are you guys on crack? The new Pred Head looks horrible. "Let's design by committee, take out all the details, and have a Freshman design student add a random yellow swoosh that looks like someone is peeing on it". Just terrible. Should have just reduced the colors and been done with it.
Hell Yeah!
New wordmark font is a lot cleaner and "toothier." The stripe looks weird, but hopefully it pulls together once the jerseys are unveiled. Or someone busts out some new mustard concepts.
Sigh.
I can see why they did this - they wanted to get out of the past without changing too much. And that's the problem - they didn't change enough. It would have been better if they'd left alone. Instead, we get this. It's not better. It's a lateral move, maybe even slightly downwards. Not as bad as the Lightning, but it's still pretty bad.
On the plus side, that guitar pick logo is pretty sweet.
Everything else is OK except for the guitar pick logo. That one looks like crap. Overall, cleaned up design.
Anyone else see the mitsubishi logo in the space between the stars in the secondary logo?
Don't really like it...I think its a step in the wrong direction. The new black and blue third jerseys were awesome, so was the white version of it they put up for auction! I'm really upset they didn't keep those. While the guitar pick logo is pretty cool, the others look a little over-simplified like the new Tampa Bay jerseys. I hope that's not the new theme in the NHL...
Dear Tampa Bay Lightning. THIS is how you make a logo classic.
I think it's a big improvement. I don't remember where I read/heard this, but a sports designer once said he liked to create simple logos that looked good, and were easy for fans to draw (especially when it is time to face paint). I still think it could be simplified a bit, but on the whole, looks very timeless now.
Now if only Florida and other teams that began in the 90's would update their logo...(Carolina and Colorado)
The guitar pick would make a great soccer/football (whatever you prefer to call it) logo. I dig it as a shoulder.
Dave: I agree with you in part on the Panthers logo. Though, for as detailed as their logo is, I never thought it was as bad as Nashville's. And having said that, I see no need for an update to the Carolina or Colorado primary logos. They both hit the mark perfectly if you ask me. They're very simplistic both in form and use of color. I'd count on those logos to be around for many years to come. Not everything that came out of the 90s was bad. But now that I think of it, how many 90s-era logos are really left in the NHL?
Personally, I preferred the direction they took with the 3rd jersey and the special edition whites that went along with it. They were more classic and made more sense. I'd love to see what the new sweaters actually look like. Hopefully there isn't a return to those hideous mustard yellow jersey's from 2001 - 07.
I'm pleasantly surprised most you guys like these. I wasn't sure, and I'm waiting to see the jerseys to tie the scheme together. So far I like it, and the guitar pick/TN stars is cool.
Hopefully someone will post the away jersey tonight.
I prefer their old thirds. Just seem too simplified for my tastes, especially with the random yellow stripe through the middle.
I ran an image search of the Tennessee state flag to see what they changed about it. Maybe they're just casting aspersions on their home state, quietly nudging them to straighten out that star-ball thing.
The stars on the Tennessee flag represent the three regions of the state (East, Middle, and West), which all have very different histories. The stars on the guitar-pick logo are aligned correctly relative to the circle, but the circle has been rotated a bit, probably just for the sake of symmetry. The original guidelines for the flag specifically stated that the stars should not be positioned such that any one star is exactly on the top, bottom, right, or left. I'm guessing this was to make all the regions appear equal. It's a cool concept for a flag, but it would look kind of silly on a Preds' logo, and most people wouldn't get it. So I say it's better the way it is :-)
I've never been a fan of teams using a handful of colours in their palette (Atlanta, pre-Edge Oilers & Coyotes)
so it should go without saying that Nashville's redesign gets top marks from me. The guitar pick logo is pretty clever, too.
Alright Chris I will concede my argument for change on Colorado's logo - it is timeless.
However the Carolina one, despite being simple and clean, just lacks identity and appeal. It's a very abstract logo that looks swirly and vague imho. I couldn't say off-hand what would look better than the current logo, but I think there is a lot of room for improvement.
I like the logos except for the main logo. The guitar logo is great, the new colors work great I always liked the combination of blue and gold. What doesn't work is the mustard smear on the main logo. To me it looks like a kid smeared mustard on the logo. To me it seems like the white of the logo ruins it if the team insisted on having the Predators logo with a yellow stripe.
Nahhhh .... the yellow stripe in the middle of the primary logo feels weird to me ... I know its refering to the original one ... but I dont know and plus with yellow outline ... i dont know somethings wrong there ... the guitar pick is useless and freaking ugly!
Otherwise good job for cleaning it up .... but meh!
The guitar pick logo is pure genius, absolutely love it! And the changes to the main logo looks good as well, more classic look. I just hope the jerseys looks as good as the logos.
And I really hope they make real guitar picks with that design, it's too good to not do.
Have you seen the comment board on the Nashville Site. Wow their fans HATE it! Maybe their tired of buying new jerseys every 2 seasons. I think it's like 100 times better. No one has Yellow jersey's, so this will be great. I think they should keep their current third though. I think the reason they didn't go the direction of using there third jerseys as their home's and use that white (that they showed at the players poker fund raiser we all saw pictures of) was that too many teams are going with that color scheme or a similar one (although I thought they had done it best). I think the Yellow will make them more distinct. Almost everyone loves/likes team Sweden's jersey's and the league needs this color scheme.
PS. Chris, please joking about Carolina's logo. The worst logo at any level of hockey.
This update is exactly what the Preds needed. Looks fantastic all around, and the "Guitar Pick" is actually pretty cool for what it's supposed to represent.
nice. nashville has come a long way from those mustard yellows. simple, clean, classic logos are the way to go. i hope the folks in winnipeg follow the trend ... and keep the jets name, of course! hey chris, any leaks from winnipeg for us?
Excellent update. The Preds fans will grow to like it.
Also, I am one of the few people who loves the Hurricanes logo. It's like the Avalanche logo; there's a bit of stuff wrong with it, but I've never liked anyone's attempt to change it.
I've never liked a Hurricanes concept with a new logo.
I like the new alternate logos and the wordmark, but I don't care for the new colour scheme. The orange and silver gave them a little more definition, more dimension, plus blue and gold is suddenly overused: see St. Louis, Buffalo. They could have at least kept silver as a trim colour.
The Hurricanes should switch to the stick-and-flag logo full-time, that mark is badass.
Not a fan of the yellow smear through the main logo. And the secondary logos . . . nothing spectacular. I agree with the posters who prefer the older skull shoulder patch. Unfortunately, a new jersey requires new elements. If those leaks are true, then I can see why Pred fans are p'd off. The one good thing about the away jersey is there's no "Nashville" or triangle. I think they would have been better off with a new blue jersey and future yellow third . . . at least they tried something different
I never much liked the EDGE unis the Preds wore. The pre-EDGE not as bad, but these are great. I love to see how the NHL teams are getting out of the 90's switch to darker, muddier colors with way too much black and navy and back to brighter and more distinctive colors of earlier eras. The yellow home jersey is definately distinctive and I love it.
I do like a guitar pick shape logo option - but, I do not like whatsoever the position of three stars and a negative space between them that clearly shows a " Mitsubishi " logo. I do not belive for a second that " Mitsubishi " will like that idea ( we all remember what had happened to Jacksonvillle " Jaguars " with their first take on a jaguar logo. I still don't like the primary logo, as it is- more work needs to be done to make it unique looking logo. The secondary loggo is lacking an image of guitar strings to make it complete.
Woodmark can be redone, too.