A great logo is the same as a great brand, which is why minor-league teams are so focused on creating a distinctive, marketable logo. This season saw a whole slew of great logos to hit the market, which made choosing the logo of the year a very difficult task. In the end, we went with the logo that best reflected the baseball heritage of the market while updating the look for modern time: the new logo from the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low Class A; Midwest League). The logo was an integral part of the team’s “new” identity: while reclaiming the River Bandits moniker, the new management updated the old baseball-with-a-bandana logo and introduced a new mascot, a raccoon, to the mix. The new mascot makes the logo work on many levels, while the secondary logos go a nice job of reinforcing the team’s look.
A great logo is the same as a great brand, which is why minor-league teams are so focused on creating a distinctive, marketable logo. This season saw a whole slew of great logos to hit the market, which made choosing the logo of the year a very difficult task. In the end, we went with the logo that best reflected the baseball heritage of the market while updating the look for modern time: the new logo from the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low Class A; Midwest League). The logo was an integral part of the team’s “new” identity: while reclaiming the River Bandits moniker, the new management updated the old baseball-with-a-bandana logo and introduced a new mascot, a raccoon, to the mix. The new mascot makes the logo work on many levels, while the secondary logos go a nice job of reinforcing the team’s look.
To say the public loved the new logos is an understatement; we were present at Modern Woodmen Park the night 28 people received a free tattoo of their choice of new logo, so we saw the community interest first hand.
The two logos to the left in the illustration below were created by Francis Santaquilani of FS Design, while the third was done by Ryan Smith from Professional Sports Management.
To say there was a host of great new logos this season in an understatement. Our finalists for this award included the Casper Ghosts, Clinton LumberKings (loved the new Louie on steroids; wish he had kept the nail in the bat), Florence Freedom, Fresno Grizzlies (a logo we cited as being an important part of the team’s award for Best Marketing Campaign), Lancaster JetHawks, New Hampshire Fisher Cats (a logo we cited as being an important part of the team’s award for Best New Uniform), Wichita Wingnuts, Williamsport Crosscutters and Yakima Bears.