After almost 27 years, one of the most recognizable logos in all of North America got an update this year. It will officially hit the streets in at the 2008 draft, but it was revealed earlier this month.Technically the logo has been around since 1970 after the league merged with the AFL. There was a very minor update in 1980 but essentially the design hasn't changed in almost 4 decades.
Their decision to simplify and modernize was rationalized with a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo - which if you read between the lines meant to make it easier to embroider on the billions of dollars worth of merchandise they sell.
I do like the idea of the 8 stars (representing the eight divisions) and the new stylized ball (which we have already seen as it was used in last year's Super Bowl logo - designed by the same designer) which represents the Vince Lombardi championship trophy. They've also slightly tweaked the shape of the shield, but that's barely noticeable. I also like the harder more modern font which is also being developed into a full font to be used for other NFL applications.
There is only one glaring thing that bothers me with it - which I can't believe got through the gauntlet of scrutiny that this logo likely had to go through... The bottom of the letters just do not look right in relation to the angle and curve of the shield. They seem completely awkward out of place and have no real relationship to each other.
Being a branding, design and lettering nut (yet undiscovered by the NFL), I have taken the opportunity to fix it for them by smoothing out the rounded corners of the shield a little more and matching the angle of its lines to the letters. I have also done some minor adjusting to the letters and letter spacing as well as changed the "L" slightly. (see below)
There... that's better. I'll forward this on to commissioner Roger Goodell and let you know how it goes...
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