Stars vs Oilers

	vs
STARS		OILERS
7-5		1-10

The Aesthetics
All right, so both of these logos feature the team name as a main element, I'm sorry to say. The Oilers name appears to take up more of the logo than anything else but the the Stars logo also has the city name on it. Which is worse? A single drop of oil is meant to graphically symbolize the Oilers so we'll go with the Stars logo since it at least has a giant star on it.
Stars

The Nickname
Remember that giant ball of fire. Imagine a Star coming in contact with an oil pit. All of the Oilers would be toast. Or, incinerated, rather.
Stars

The Analysis
I thought the Stars logo looked great on all the Stanley Cup champion merchandise back in 1999. It's been a while since we've seen the Oilers logo on that stuff. All right, cheap shot. I apologize. I think despite its tradition, the Oilers might be better served by something like the logo they've been wearing on their third jersey. That was very sharp. The Stars should never ever reconsider their third jersey logo. I recently read where someone called it a "mooterus" which had me laughing out loud for a moment. Sweep for the Stars.
Stars

WINNER

3-0

 

Comments

[Riley Broderick]

The Oilers logo is the better one. The Stars logo has little to no outer contour of any value, the lettering is in a totally nondescript font lacking interest, and the star is not designed with any originality or formal interest. It is flat, and undynamic which is evidenced by the fact that they had to take the whole thing and skew it forward to make it look more interesting and active.

The Oilers logo is original and intriguing. It can be broken down in many ways, providing varied, compelling imagery, and there is nothing like it in other logo designs. First, it can be seen as a cross-section of a pipe - the letters elongated, representing the reflection on a liquid (oil), a ghostly inner chamber. The upright bars extending from the letters also call to mind a vent, perhaps in a burning furnace, being fueled by the oil that drips from above. The situation of the drop graphically interacts with the strong outer contour of the circle where it breaks at the top, drawing the eye into the center of the logo. The drop being at the top is nearly mystical in that the fuel is depicted as an ever present source in oil country, as though coming from above, like mana, an orange ever-burning source of condensed energy found in the upper mid section of the hoop, seeming like a third eye, the guiding light that connects us to the land - the oil. The rendering of this third eye is also reinforced by the abstract effect of teeth below in the barred lettering which creates yet another reference to a gaping maw of an elemental beast.

Riley Broderick