This post probably won't be too long, but I figured since people are voicing their opinions on all manner of things relative to the expansion teams, I'd throw my hat in the ring. I consider myself to be relatively creative and I did write 2 articles a with potential brands that I thought were pretty good for the most part. So, without further ado, some alterations I'd make to the expansion teams, keeping the mascot and location concepts:
The New York Silverbacks
First off, I honestly do love the concept, even the name. I think most of all, I love the logo. The old-school Hollywood text really sells the look in my eyes, drawing on the King Kong iconography. Plus, the name flows pretty well. If I'd change anything, I think I would name the team the Empire State Silverbacks, which I think I've seen someone else already say (sorry if stolen from you). It adds nothing but alliteration, but also allows for the logo to add the Empire State Building, and further sell the concrete jungle concept it seems that they are going for. I would change nothing about the gorilla itself, I think that is an ideal look. The only thing about the logo that confused me is that the team's official primary colors are liberty green and dark slate grey, but the logo doesn't sell that. I am certain that the color scheme will work out on a jersey, but from looking at the logo the easy assumption is that the team's colors will be gold and liberty green, with black as the accent. The slate grey is the least featured color in the logo, and with the name Silverbacks, one would assume the silver and/or grey would be more incorporated. I would make the gilded border in liberty green with the building-shaped background turned slate grey. On top of that, I would highlight the ape with a gold border to make it pop out, and also to keep the grey accent from mixing into the background. That being said, the logo that will most likely appear on the helmet will be the solo gorilla, with liberty green as the helmet color, or so I assume. Cramming the whole thing on there will look to jumbled and impossible to read.
In my mind I see something like this, albeit a bit cleaner:
At the end of the day, I think this is a great team concept for the "greatest city in the world", a great ape leering down on its enemies.
The Berlin Fire Salamanders
This one is more troublesome. I do think Berlin is a great idea as an international city to host an ISFL team. I even like the idea of the fire salamander as a mascot. I am not a fan of the name being just the two terms crunched together. As there is no official logo (as of the writing of this article), I cannot critique it. So, on with the name. I cannot say for certain that this was the thought process behind the creation of this team, I imagine that the logic train looked something like this: Berlin, Germany -> German flag -> red, yellow, and black color scheme -> red, yellow, and black animals -> fire salamander -> locally found in Europe and Germany. And for this reason ,I do like the idea. But the name does not flow, almost to an aggressive point. One fix that I think is easy (and honestly could be done with little to no effort, and probably should) is dropping "Fire". Berlin Salamanders. Not outstanding, but certainly better than before. I would then incorporate the fire into the logo, but only if management wants to keep it. I see no reason too. If the logo is a fire salamander, the job is done. The specification clogs the name up. Dropping it would keep the name clean. I am American, and know very little of German culture, but from limited research, I have found that Berlin has been nicknamed "the Paper City" and "the Grey City". I do not know if either are true, but I do know that Paper City Salamanders (not good, do not use) and Grey City Salamanders flow much better than Berlin Salamanders. The only risk at that point is that people won't realize that the "City" is Berlin. In the end, just please lose "Fire" from the name. That's my adjustment that would give some immediate improvement.
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That's just my two cents, but I think that those are some solid ideas, even though they won't be implemented.
The New York Silverbacks
First off, I honestly do love the concept, even the name. I think most of all, I love the logo. The old-school Hollywood text really sells the look in my eyes, drawing on the King Kong iconography. Plus, the name flows pretty well. If I'd change anything, I think I would name the team the Empire State Silverbacks, which I think I've seen someone else already say (sorry if stolen from you). It adds nothing but alliteration, but also allows for the logo to add the Empire State Building, and further sell the concrete jungle concept it seems that they are going for. I would change nothing about the gorilla itself, I think that is an ideal look. The only thing about the logo that confused me is that the team's official primary colors are liberty green and dark slate grey, but the logo doesn't sell that. I am certain that the color scheme will work out on a jersey, but from looking at the logo the easy assumption is that the team's colors will be gold and liberty green, with black as the accent. The slate grey is the least featured color in the logo, and with the name Silverbacks, one would assume the silver and/or grey would be more incorporated. I would make the gilded border in liberty green with the building-shaped background turned slate grey. On top of that, I would highlight the ape with a gold border to make it pop out, and also to keep the grey accent from mixing into the background. That being said, the logo that will most likely appear on the helmet will be the solo gorilla, with liberty green as the helmet color, or so I assume. Cramming the whole thing on there will look to jumbled and impossible to read.
In my mind I see something like this, albeit a bit cleaner:
At the end of the day, I think this is a great team concept for the "greatest city in the world", a great ape leering down on its enemies.
The Berlin Fire Salamanders
This one is more troublesome. I do think Berlin is a great idea as an international city to host an ISFL team. I even like the idea of the fire salamander as a mascot. I am not a fan of the name being just the two terms crunched together. As there is no official logo (as of the writing of this article), I cannot critique it. So, on with the name. I cannot say for certain that this was the thought process behind the creation of this team, I imagine that the logic train looked something like this: Berlin, Germany -> German flag -> red, yellow, and black color scheme -> red, yellow, and black animals -> fire salamander -> locally found in Europe and Germany. And for this reason ,I do like the idea. But the name does not flow, almost to an aggressive point. One fix that I think is easy (and honestly could be done with little to no effort, and probably should) is dropping "Fire". Berlin Salamanders. Not outstanding, but certainly better than before. I would then incorporate the fire into the logo, but only if management wants to keep it. I see no reason too. If the logo is a fire salamander, the job is done. The specification clogs the name up. Dropping it would keep the name clean. I am American, and know very little of German culture, but from limited research, I have found that Berlin has been nicknamed "the Paper City" and "the Grey City". I do not know if either are true, but I do know that Paper City Salamanders (not good, do not use) and Grey City Salamanders flow much better than Berlin Salamanders. The only risk at that point is that people won't realize that the "City" is Berlin. In the end, just please lose "Fire" from the name. That's my adjustment that would give some immediate improvement.
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That's just my two cents, but I think that those are some solid ideas, even though they won't be implemented.