02-20-2022, 07:59 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-21-2022, 08:22 PM by Crunk. Edited 1 time in total.)
ASFC
Arizona Outlaws : The logo looks extremely sharp. Color scheme is clean (Red and Yellow colors fit the typical Arizona sports team aesthetic), mascot is well designed, font is awesome. The stylization on the A in Outlaws looks incredibly similar to the Diamondbacks logo, but it fits the logo great. Including type in the primary logo is also a plus for me, fitting that in properly with the design can be tough. I don't love the mascot name though. An Outlaw is just too cliché for me, I've never liked "wild-west" designs. Apart from the color-scheme, nothing screams "Arizona" about this logo. The logo as a whole looks also more like an esports-team logo than a football team, but, overall, I like it. I'll give it an 8/10, carried by just how nice it looks. Spoiler for the rest of the post: The Outlaws logo design quality will be used as a benchmark of quality of design. It's just a really good looking logo.
Austin Copperheads : Another sharp looking logo, this time with a less traditional color scheme. This logo gives off some Costal Carolina Chanticleer vibes, an intimidating teal and brownish mascot. I'll always give bonus points for adding in a reference to the location at which the team plays, love the star in the background. The design on the mascot is awesome and I love the name; it's a unique and fitting choice for an Austin mascot. The only real thing it lacks is text in the primary logo, but everything else about the Copperheads design is just fantastic. 8.5/10.
Honolulu Hahalua : When I think of a dream logo for a team, I want something that commands respect. Honolulu's logo legitimately made me laugh when I opened it for the first time. It looks low-resolution, derpy, and just plain ugly. It's a shame too, because I love the name of this team. It rolls off the tongue so well, it's such a unique team name. But the logo just doesn't look good. The ring encompassing the animal looks like a design I'd find on a carpet at my grandmother's house. It's just not visually appealing at all. I'll admit one thing though, the logo does look quite nice when it is downscaled. Maybe the image I have is just bad. This logo isn't a lost cause, but it needs a lot of help. 4/10.
New Orleans Second Line : What a cool team name. I had no idea what "Second Line" was until seeing this name, but after a quick search, this branding is just awesome. The Louisiana purple and gold makes the logo looks sophisticated, the artwork on it is phenomenal. This team's branding has one fatal flaw, however. It just doesn't sound like a football team. "Yeah man, I play for the Second Line." Excuse me? That doesn't sound anything like a football team, a sports team, anything. The name just ruins the immersion of playing on a team for me. Similar to Honolulu, I really wish I loved this branding. And, I do, but its just not branding for a football team. An outreach project or a charity, sure. But a football team? It just doesn't sound like one. It pains me to give this score, but I have to give it a 5.5/10. This is like serving me a 5 star burger for desert. It is an incredible design, but it's not what I asked for.
New York Silverbacks : I have one word for this logo: badass. That's a sick looking monkey. That's a sharp looking design. The roman numerals on the bottom are incredible. Remember when I said I wanting something that commands respect? That commands respect. I have no idea what connection the Silverback gorilla has to the city of New York, though there is a local baseball team named the New York Silverbacks, so I'll assume it has a connection to the area. The design in the back, representing the NYC skyline, is also a great addition (I'd like to see it resemble buildings a bit more, though it might clog up the design too much). I'll give this a 9.5/10 without seeing the rest of the logos, but I can easily see this being my favorite when I'm done.
Orange County Otters : As my player's name is Orange Justice, I would have loved to like this logo. Orange Justice, Orange County, it's a perfect fit. But man, I just don't like their logo. It just doesn't look good. Unlike the Honolulu logo though, I think this one is a pretty easy fix. First of all, what in the world is that... blob underneath the otter's eye on the white part of its face. Is that supposed to be a football? I don't think so, but especially at a smaller size, that looks like it's supposed to be a football. That just isn't visually appealing. The logo also just doesn't look very well done, but not to an extreme degree. A style similar to that used in the Outlaws logo could be applied to this one to clean it up and I think we'd have an awesome logo on our hands. There's potential here, but for now, it's a 5/10.
San Jose SaberCats : I'm really not sure how to feel about this one. The branding is fine (and there was an arena football team with the same name). Similar to Orange County's logo though, this logo just doesn't look that good. I'll keep using the Outlaws logo as a benchmark for quality of design. The SaberCats logo and the Outlaws logo just aren't on the same level in terms of sheer design quality. Again similar to the Otters' logo, a modernization of this logo would make it look awesome. I can see a revamped logo of this logo looking fantastic; I think there's more potential here than with the Otters, so I'll give it a 5.5/10.
NSFC
Baltimore Hawks : Phenomenal logo (note to league office people, the Hawks logo in the logo Google Drive is outdated.) Sharp. Clean. Well-made. Incorporates text fantastically. There's not as much to analyze here as there was for the other logos. I don't see a flaw with anything. It looks awesome in full size. It looks awesome when downscaled. The sharpness is on par or above the Outlaws logo. It lacks quantity of design elements, but it makes up for it with the quality of everything being top tier. 9.5/10.
Berlin Fire Salamanders : The best way I can describe my relationship with this logo is through the five stages of grief.
Denial: A fire salamander is a made up creature that has nothing to do with Berlin. This team branding was probably created just because the league needed a last-minute fill-in to accompany a wave of new players.
Anger: I've been writing this for fifty minutes. I was excited to get to the other conference. This is what you give me!?
Bargaining: Okay. The logo actually looks kind of sick. It's one of the more quirky designs, but I don't hate it. I can live with the Fire Salamanders team existing. Why did we have to make up an animal to fill this slot though?
Depression: A fire salamander is an actual animal. It's an actual animal found in Europe. My entire life up until this point has been a complete lie.
Acceptance: Actual fire salamanders don't breath fire, but the logo actually looks good. Why does it have a hand coming out of the top of its head?
8/10
Chicago Butchers : Gave me the same vibes as the Silverbacks logo. Just straight up badass. A quick search revealed that Chicago was "once known as the hog butcher to the world.” This is a team brand and logo straight out of one of those Mutant League games and I'm here for it. My only complaint here is design quality. I don't think the design is as well polished as the Outlaws, Copperheads, or Silverbacks logos. I'd like some fine tuning done, but I still love this logo. 8/10
Colorado Yeti : Objectively speaking, I don't think this logo is great. It lacks complexity and is essentially a Chicago Cubs logo with a yeti inside of it. I have no idea what the connection is between Yetis and Colorado. There are no Yetis in Colorado. Yetis don't exist. For some reason, though, I actually really like this logo. For one, it looks phenomenal when it is downscaled. Looked at the downsized pictures I've placed in this post, the Yeti logo looks the best to me. Even in full size, it's just looks pretty damn good to me. When I was looking at the ISFL teams a couple of months back, I remember specifically acknowledging how much I liked Colorado's logo. I want more style on the design of the C. Give it some gleam, give it some shine. But I can't complain about the product in front of me. 7.5/10.
Philadelphia Liberty : I am a bit of a United States history nerd. Not a big nerd, but US history is my favorite kind of history. Love the name of this logo. Love the liberty bell. Love the thirteen stars on the logo. Love the way the football is seamlessly integrated into the design. I have to give this one the same kind of treatment that I gave the Second Line, however. Liberty is not a sports-team name, I'm sorry. I want to rate this team a 10. It will get a much higher score than the Second Line because Liberty is much closer to a team name than Second Line is. I just got served a burger for my appetizer. It's not right and it doesn't make sense, but I'll order this appetizer burger a hundred times over. 8.5/10.
Sarasota Sailfish : One of the more simple brandings on this list. The name matches the location. The logo is well-made. This branding just doesn't have the "it" factor for me. I want a good logo to make me feel a certain way. Get me hype, get me ready to play. I don't like fish. Fish are weird. They are meant to be tricked, caught, and eaten. They don't command respect. The Sarasota Sailfish would be a phenomenal name for a fishing club, but it doesn't make the top tier of brandings in the ISFL. 6.5/10.
Yellowknife Wraiths : I was about to start a rant about how I've tried to be diligent throughout the post with respects to team location and the branding that goes along with it. The Wraiths offended me. Yellowknife Wraith sounds like a DOTA character. The last team on this list doesn't even have an actual location.
But then I looked up the word "Yellowknife." I took a shot in the dark. Yellowknife is a city in Canada. It is known for having long nights in large parts of the year. Wraiths come alive in the night. The name actually makes sense. The Wraiths bamboozled me harder than the Fire Salamanders did. Once again, this is not a football team's branding, it's an esport team's branding. But the branding is good and the name is clever. 7/10.
(1825 Words)
Arizona Outlaws : The logo looks extremely sharp. Color scheme is clean (Red and Yellow colors fit the typical Arizona sports team aesthetic), mascot is well designed, font is awesome. The stylization on the A in Outlaws looks incredibly similar to the Diamondbacks logo, but it fits the logo great. Including type in the primary logo is also a plus for me, fitting that in properly with the design can be tough. I don't love the mascot name though. An Outlaw is just too cliché for me, I've never liked "wild-west" designs. Apart from the color-scheme, nothing screams "Arizona" about this logo. The logo as a whole looks also more like an esports-team logo than a football team, but, overall, I like it. I'll give it an 8/10, carried by just how nice it looks. Spoiler for the rest of the post: The Outlaws logo design quality will be used as a benchmark of quality of design. It's just a really good looking logo.
Austin Copperheads : Another sharp looking logo, this time with a less traditional color scheme. This logo gives off some Costal Carolina Chanticleer vibes, an intimidating teal and brownish mascot. I'll always give bonus points for adding in a reference to the location at which the team plays, love the star in the background. The design on the mascot is awesome and I love the name; it's a unique and fitting choice for an Austin mascot. The only real thing it lacks is text in the primary logo, but everything else about the Copperheads design is just fantastic. 8.5/10.
Honolulu Hahalua : When I think of a dream logo for a team, I want something that commands respect. Honolulu's logo legitimately made me laugh when I opened it for the first time. It looks low-resolution, derpy, and just plain ugly. It's a shame too, because I love the name of this team. It rolls off the tongue so well, it's such a unique team name. But the logo just doesn't look good. The ring encompassing the animal looks like a design I'd find on a carpet at my grandmother's house. It's just not visually appealing at all. I'll admit one thing though, the logo does look quite nice when it is downscaled. Maybe the image I have is just bad. This logo isn't a lost cause, but it needs a lot of help. 4/10.
New Orleans Second Line : What a cool team name. I had no idea what "Second Line" was until seeing this name, but after a quick search, this branding is just awesome. The Louisiana purple and gold makes the logo looks sophisticated, the artwork on it is phenomenal. This team's branding has one fatal flaw, however. It just doesn't sound like a football team. "Yeah man, I play for the Second Line." Excuse me? That doesn't sound anything like a football team, a sports team, anything. The name just ruins the immersion of playing on a team for me. Similar to Honolulu, I really wish I loved this branding. And, I do, but its just not branding for a football team. An outreach project or a charity, sure. But a football team? It just doesn't sound like one. It pains me to give this score, but I have to give it a 5.5/10. This is like serving me a 5 star burger for desert. It is an incredible design, but it's not what I asked for.
New York Silverbacks : I have one word for this logo: badass. That's a sick looking monkey. That's a sharp looking design. The roman numerals on the bottom are incredible. Remember when I said I wanting something that commands respect? That commands respect. I have no idea what connection the Silverback gorilla has to the city of New York, though there is a local baseball team named the New York Silverbacks, so I'll assume it has a connection to the area. The design in the back, representing the NYC skyline, is also a great addition (I'd like to see it resemble buildings a bit more, though it might clog up the design too much). I'll give this a 9.5/10 without seeing the rest of the logos, but I can easily see this being my favorite when I'm done.
Orange County Otters : As my player's name is Orange Justice, I would have loved to like this logo. Orange Justice, Orange County, it's a perfect fit. But man, I just don't like their logo. It just doesn't look good. Unlike the Honolulu logo though, I think this one is a pretty easy fix. First of all, what in the world is that... blob underneath the otter's eye on the white part of its face. Is that supposed to be a football? I don't think so, but especially at a smaller size, that looks like it's supposed to be a football. That just isn't visually appealing. The logo also just doesn't look very well done, but not to an extreme degree. A style similar to that used in the Outlaws logo could be applied to this one to clean it up and I think we'd have an awesome logo on our hands. There's potential here, but for now, it's a 5/10.
San Jose SaberCats : I'm really not sure how to feel about this one. The branding is fine (and there was an arena football team with the same name). Similar to Orange County's logo though, this logo just doesn't look that good. I'll keep using the Outlaws logo as a benchmark for quality of design. The SaberCats logo and the Outlaws logo just aren't on the same level in terms of sheer design quality. Again similar to the Otters' logo, a modernization of this logo would make it look awesome. I can see a revamped logo of this logo looking fantastic; I think there's more potential here than with the Otters, so I'll give it a 5.5/10.
NSFC
Baltimore Hawks : Phenomenal logo (note to league office people, the Hawks logo in the logo Google Drive is outdated.) Sharp. Clean. Well-made. Incorporates text fantastically. There's not as much to analyze here as there was for the other logos. I don't see a flaw with anything. It looks awesome in full size. It looks awesome when downscaled. The sharpness is on par or above the Outlaws logo. It lacks quantity of design elements, but it makes up for it with the quality of everything being top tier. 9.5/10.
Berlin Fire Salamanders : The best way I can describe my relationship with this logo is through the five stages of grief.
Denial: A fire salamander is a made up creature that has nothing to do with Berlin. This team branding was probably created just because the league needed a last-minute fill-in to accompany a wave of new players.
Anger: I've been writing this for fifty minutes. I was excited to get to the other conference. This is what you give me!?
Bargaining: Okay. The logo actually looks kind of sick. It's one of the more quirky designs, but I don't hate it. I can live with the Fire Salamanders team existing. Why did we have to make up an animal to fill this slot though?
Depression: A fire salamander is an actual animal. It's an actual animal found in Europe. My entire life up until this point has been a complete lie.
Acceptance: Actual fire salamanders don't breath fire, but the logo actually looks good. Why does it have a hand coming out of the top of its head?
8/10
Chicago Butchers : Gave me the same vibes as the Silverbacks logo. Just straight up badass. A quick search revealed that Chicago was "once known as the hog butcher to the world.” This is a team brand and logo straight out of one of those Mutant League games and I'm here for it. My only complaint here is design quality. I don't think the design is as well polished as the Outlaws, Copperheads, or Silverbacks logos. I'd like some fine tuning done, but I still love this logo. 8/10
Colorado Yeti : Objectively speaking, I don't think this logo is great. It lacks complexity and is essentially a Chicago Cubs logo with a yeti inside of it. I have no idea what the connection is between Yetis and Colorado. There are no Yetis in Colorado. Yetis don't exist. For some reason, though, I actually really like this logo. For one, it looks phenomenal when it is downscaled. Looked at the downsized pictures I've placed in this post, the Yeti logo looks the best to me. Even in full size, it's just looks pretty damn good to me. When I was looking at the ISFL teams a couple of months back, I remember specifically acknowledging how much I liked Colorado's logo. I want more style on the design of the C. Give it some gleam, give it some shine. But I can't complain about the product in front of me. 7.5/10.
Philadelphia Liberty : I am a bit of a United States history nerd. Not a big nerd, but US history is my favorite kind of history. Love the name of this logo. Love the liberty bell. Love the thirteen stars on the logo. Love the way the football is seamlessly integrated into the design. I have to give this one the same kind of treatment that I gave the Second Line, however. Liberty is not a sports-team name, I'm sorry. I want to rate this team a 10. It will get a much higher score than the Second Line because Liberty is much closer to a team name than Second Line is. I just got served a burger for my appetizer. It's not right and it doesn't make sense, but I'll order this appetizer burger a hundred times over. 8.5/10.
Sarasota Sailfish : One of the more simple brandings on this list. The name matches the location. The logo is well-made. This branding just doesn't have the "it" factor for me. I want a good logo to make me feel a certain way. Get me hype, get me ready to play. I don't like fish. Fish are weird. They are meant to be tricked, caught, and eaten. They don't command respect. The Sarasota Sailfish would be a phenomenal name for a fishing club, but it doesn't make the top tier of brandings in the ISFL. 6.5/10.
Yellowknife Wraiths : I was about to start a rant about how I've tried to be diligent throughout the post with respects to team location and the branding that goes along with it. The Wraiths offended me. Yellowknife Wraith sounds like a DOTA character. The last team on this list doesn't even have an actual location.
But then I looked up the word "Yellowknife." I took a shot in the dark. Yellowknife is a city in Canada. It is known for having long nights in large parts of the year. Wraiths come alive in the night. The name actually makes sense. The Wraiths bamboozled me harder than the Fire Salamanders did. Once again, this is not a football team's branding, it's an esport team's branding. But the branding is good and the name is clever. 7/10.
(1825 Words)