I Logo Therefore I Am

Logos, logos, and more logos! Where should I begin?  Every great team, franchise, or brand has a recognizable logo that helps with not only marketing, but also affiliation and recognition.  This week
WAKA Fashion is focusing on logos.  In fact, some of the best teams in the league have some pretty phenomenal logos.  Here are some of the most recognized from Smoking Bunts, Foul Balls, and Hot Dogs and Tacos.

Even if your team does not have a logo yet, don’t feel bad.  Some of the most famous logos were created by accident, so that means you still have time to think of yours, or stumble upon an amazing idea to represent yourselves. In fact, Gerald Holtom, who invented the peace sign, started this well-known symbol as a self-portrait.

Other recognizable logos, like the CBS logo, created by William Golden, were made simply by happenstance as he proved this in basically ripping off 19^th Century religious drawings.  

So if you do want to get creative with yours, now that you know you would be that much more awesome for doing so, you can check out these well-known logos for inspiration on your creative flair process.   Here you can see hidden symbols creating self-advertisements for the following brands:

Baskin Robbins number 31 in the logo represents its own the 31 delicious flavors.

Fed Ex has a hidden arrow between the E and x to represent the speed of delivery.

The Tostitos logo was created from two people sharing a chip and a bowl of salsa.

Now these logos weren’t just created overnight, so don’t beat yourself up if you can’t think of one right away.  There is a creative thought process involved that is known as the Logo evolution.  To prove this, the Nike “Swoosh” has one of the best stories in evolvement as the design was created in 1971 by Carolyn Davidson, who was a graphic design student at Portland State University.  As she was approached to provide design ideas at the time for a rate of $2 per hour, she submitted a total bill of $35 for her work on the logo, and was also given a gold Swoosh ring and an envelope filled with Nike stock as well.  Not too shabby.

The Nike SWOOSH logo itself represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek Goddess of victory, Nike, who was the source of inspiration for many great and courageous warriors. According to legends, a Greek would say, “When we go to battle and win, we say it is Nike.” Originally, the mark was referred to as ‘the strip’ but was later changed to ‘Swoosh’ to describe the fibers used in Nike shoes. In the spring of 1972, the first shoe with the Nike SWOOSH Logo was introduced; thus, the evolution of Nike.  What will your inspiration be?

Overall, I think more teams in the league should get in on the logo bandwagon, as it has proven to not only provide comradery amongst teammates, but also create a distinguished recognition for that team that can’t be missed.  So moral of the story is, get your flair up so we don’t have to talk about this anymore.