Portland Timbers’ MLS Logo Changed Due To Timbers Army Input
A couple of weeks ago, we posted about the furor that had broken out in the American northwest, as fans of the Portland Timbers — known collectively as the Timbers Army, and represented formally by the 107ist independent supporters’ trust — threw up their arms in horror at the logo unveiled for the 2011 MLS Portland Timbers expansion team.
And quite rightly. The new look was cartoonish, with unnecessary bonus wings. It supposedly paid homage to the club’s on-and-off history stretching back to 1974, but in reality did it a disservice with such poor treatment. The failure of the front office to get enough fan input before the unveiling was a real disappointment when they have consistently used the club’s history in their marketing of the club. Here’s a reminder of the new logo’s look:
The Timbers Army, or rather the 107ist, took a sensible approach to dealing with what threatened to turn very ugly (after an initial awkward public encounter between owner Merritt Paulson and hardcore Timbers Army fans following the public unveiling). They met with the front office, and came up with modified designs that better matched the traditional look. As another reminder, here is Portland’s current crest:
To their credit, Portland’s front office and ownership listened. Here’s the club’s release on the changes:
“The MLS stable of marks holds true to our root elements while evolving to communicate our historic elevation to MLS,” said Merritt Paulson, president of the Timbers. “We welcomed fan input in the process and feel the final result appropriately honors our traditions and represents the magnitude of the organization’s step to the highest level of soccer in North America.”
Elements of the identity system included both direct fan design and input. The ligature was selected from several submissions from talented local designers who are members of the team’s supporters group – the Timbers Army. The secondary crest is a direct take-down of the primary crest, which has been altered slightly to reduce shading in the axe.
And here are the new logos and the “ligature” (yeah, I had to Google that one).
The changes don’t look radical at first glance. But it is notable that the primary and secondary logos have also been adjusted, with the shading from the axe removed to make it less cartoonish. Let’s compare:
I still think some of the elements of the new primary crest are overdone, but while subtle, the Timbers organisation has clearly seriously listened to fan input: it would be easy to make fun of merely removing the shading on the axe, but it matters they have in terms of it better representing the club’s past identity. And the secondary logo is close to being a classic. I’m not really sure what the “ligature” is all about — but it’s nice they took a fan submission and made it part of their look.
Credit to the Timbers and the 107ist for getting together sensibly and getting this done. It’s an important demonstration of how fans and front offices can work together, compromise and come up with something better for the club as a whole.
Comparison images courtesy of Calimero JackAcid on the TA messageboard.
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Trackbacks
- The Portland's New Logo Causing Issues
- Tuesday Timbers Tidbits (06/29/2010)
- Toronto FC v Portland Timbers Preview - The Offside - Toronto FC blog
They should have stuck with the old logo. No change was needed. The organization must have thought it did for some reason. That is the trend nowadays, isn’t it? Personally, I’m sick of all the updated logos we’ve seen in American sports. At least the folks in Portland actually cared, if only a bit, about what their supporters thought and made some changes. Could be worse in Portland. They could have been called Portland Bobcats FC.
As a marketer and brander myself, I personally feel the controversy is much ado about nothing. There was no need for a redo in my opinion.
However, it’s the fans’ club too, and this is an example of how to generate positive public relations for the club.
And this from someone who identifies with (gasp) Seattle!
I’d like to note some of the subtle changes between the original and revised logos.
- Shading removed from the axe, including the elimination of the axe edge. This helps emphasize the “T” shape of the Timbers axe.
- The line weights of the borders have been reduced which gives a less “cartoony” appearance as well as decreases the impact of the chevrons pushing out of the circular shape.
- The “Timbers” name has been enlarged to give it nearly equal weight to the name of the city.
- The distance from the axe to the chevrons have been reduced, giving less of a 3D look.
- The flares under the Portland Timbers name have been removed, which gave the chevrons a triangular shape.
it is absolutely amazing that the Timbers organization listened to the supporters and made some very appropriate changes! the 107ist in cooperation with the front office is to be applauded. the new logo is not perfect but it represents compromise and a mended bridge between supporters and the Timbers administration. the Timbers Army could have easily been muscled aside but they weren’t. Thank you to everyone involved.
I am obviously quite late to the conversation but I wanted to go on record with my opinion. As a professional graphic designer (20+ years) and soccer fan and player, I liked the new MLS logo in it’s initial iteration. The shading added a bit of dimension and flair that brought Portland up to a higher, more professional level.
The TA, in a massive abuse of their egotistical ways and self-perceived power, has ruined that. The Timbers MLS logo is now flat, drab and amateurish. Hopefully, I will be able to find some merchandising with the first iteration of the logo before it sells out.
Thanks for nothing, Timbers Army. You aren’t the only soccer fans in Portland, so get over yourselves. I am also disappointed in Timbers’ management for caving on this subject.
I’m glad for all Portland supporters that a resolution between the 107ist and the front office was made. As a Rapids fan, I empathized with the Timber fan’s uproar over the cartoonish crest that was initially chosen to represent their team. I felt the club chose a goofy corporate logo to compete with the other clown logos that represent the MLS (ie – Earthquakes, Dynamo, Rapids, FC Dallas to name a few) instead of a crest that should be worn proudly and represent the people who be-love the team the most – the fans. Kudos to Portland.