The Albion's new badge?

[Mayfair Seagull]

It's all a moot point, apparently

http://northstandchat.biz/showthread.php?t=158670

On the 24th August I received a nice email back from Ken Brown and I quote;

"a refinement of our brand identity is currently being considered by the Board in conjunction with the design architects of the new stadium"

 

[Basil Fawlty]

Great designs. B is definitely a clear winner for me.

 

[Deano's Invisible Pants]

Looks like I'm completely in the minority on this, but would love to see something that marks a new chapter rather than a throw-back. The 3rd design is the business!

 

[house your seagull]

you quoted him out of context - he did give reasons. You may not like/agree with his reasons but he did give them.

But I have no professional qualifications in this so will simply rely on the defence that I may not know much about art, but I know what I like.

i disagree, it's a dangerous game, quoting out of context when the post is 2 or 3 above.

he gave an opinion as a fact, and his reasoning lacked some legitimate technical weight in my opinion.

if he'd have put IMHO at the front then i would have remained mute.

 

[Captain Haddock]

Really like A and B.

C is a decent enough design but not for us.....definately should go back to the circle format.

Have voted A, but would be perfectly happy with B too!...especially the Mark 2 design with "The Seagulls" at the bottom of the circle.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

sir, please add some context to your cutting, unfounded critique - with arrogance like that i can only hope that you are a creative director at a respected marketing or communications firm?

IMHO - Reasons were given, but since you ask, 20 years in branding and currently a director of a brand consultancy working with clients such as PwC, Audi, MSN, Unilever and a few others. Was responsible for the award winning branding at The Children's Mutual and a raft of brands over the years.

IMHO - It's good to have a debate - but presenting three ideas and then critiquing them/tweaking them as you go is not the way to create good design. What if none of the three designs was the right place to start the debate? The best place to start is with a brief - define what the logo is for, how it will used and what it is meant to convey. At that point you can brief the creatives and have some basis for assessing the suitability of the design.

IMHO - I totally applaud the debate and agree that we need a better logo than the fat sparrow we have now - but I don't happen to think these logos are the right solution. I love NSC too - and I think I'm entitled to an opinion as much as the next fellow.

 

[The Large One]

Can I have a job, THRK?

 

[house your seagull]

IMHO - Reasons were given, but since you ask, 20 years in branding and currently a director of a brand consultancy working with clients such as PwC, Audi, MSN, Unilever and a few others. Was responsible for the award winning branding at The Children's Mutual and a raft of brands over the years.

 

[1 night only]

B for me but IMO we should have FC somewhere in the design.

 

[Mayfair Seagull]

IMHO - Reasons were given, but since you ask, 20 years in branding and currently a director of a brand consultancy working with clients such as PwC, Audi, MSN, Unilever and a few others. Was responsible for the award winning branding at The Children's Mutual and a raft of brands over the years.

IMHO - It's good to have a debate - but presenting three ideas and then critiquing them/tweaking them as you go is not the way to create good design. What if none of the three designs was the right place to start the debate? The best place to start is with a brief - define what the logo is for, how it will used and what it is meant to convey. At that point you can brief the creatives and have some basis for assessing the suitability of the design.

IMHO - I totally applaud the debate and agree that we need a better logo than the fat sparrow we have now - but I don't happen to think these logos are the right solution. I love NSC too - and I think I'm entitled to an opinion as much as the next fellow.

Of course the best way to carry out a rebranding project is have a clear brief at the start and work on from there. But not everything is this world is quite that simple and I would have thought that 20yrs in this industry would have taught you that.

Disgruntled with the current badge I felt it was worth spending some considerable time and effort working on designs to present to the club. I wanted them to see that we could have a much stronger identity than what we currently have. I love the Albion and want to do anything I can to help the club out, if it means lending my professional skills for free then I'm more than happy to do that.

I just find your negative attitude to this quite sad. Being a fellow designer wouldn't it be more constructive for you to bring some of your designs to the table and then for the debate to continue from there.

Your client list doesn't impress me. I've worked for HMV, Sky, FIFA World Cup 2006 and Visa but I don't want to brag.

I challenge you to post your recommendations for a new badge on this forum; saying we haven't got a brief is a cop out. Let's be friend's either way.. we all want the same thing; a badge we can all be proud of be it as a tattoo or on our shirts.

 

[Brovion]

On the 24th August I received a nice email back from Ken Brown and I quote;

"a refinement of our brand identity is currently being considered by the Board in conjunction with the design architects of the new stadium"

In fairness to the club 'a refinement of brand identity' could mean anything. You and I and I think about 95% of people on this board* would say that 'refinement of brand identity' should involve redesigning the badge; sadly I don't think that's on the agenda.

*And whilst I would NEVER claim that NSC was representative of the total Albion fanbase I think the club would find a majority of fans who can be arsed to express a preference would agree that the current 'fat sparrow' design is shit.

 

[Northstander]

Ive gone with B, love t. The current badge in Comparison looks...."Cheap"

 

[Johnny Crumplin Football]

Can't we just have the old one back?

 

[portlock seagull]

Mayfair Seagull should be applauded.........for getting a reply out of Ken Brown.....

 

[Ian Bairds Fist]

IMHO - Reasons were given, but since you ask, 20 years in branding and currently a director of a brand consultancy working with clients such as PwC, Audi, MSN, Unilever and a few others. Was responsible for the award winning branding at The Children's Mutual and a raft of brands over the years.

IMHO - It's good to have a debate - but presenting three ideas and then critiquing them/tweaking them as you go is not the way to create good design. What if none of the three designs was the right place to start the debate? The best place to start is with a brief - define what the logo is for, how it will used and what it is meant to convey. At that point you can brief the creatives and have some basis for assessing the suitability of the design.

IMHO - I totally applaud the debate and agree that we need a better logo than the fat sparrow we have now - but I don't happen to think these logos are the right solution. I love NSC too - and I think I'm entitled to an opinion as much as the next fellow.

Your comments aren't the most constructive IMHO, TRHK. They do sound like those of a director rather than a creative, and I think that's your problem. Maybe you're a little out of touch.

Why not leave the design work to someone who has clearly put in alot of effort. It's very easy to criticise, but a little more difficult to contribute.

We await your designs, TRHK.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Management - all a bunch of wankers!

I only posted this because it was suggested that I don't know what I'm talking about. Wasn't trying to impress (spent long enough getting this new jobs so I can't be all that) just making the point that maybe I have a valid view. However, as the young guns point out - design is no place for old farts - I'll leave it to the lads to come up with the concepts.

Mayfair - we were never not friends, it's just a point of view. I'd still like to see what people think the logo should do and be for before we start assessing designs. I praise your efforts - but I'm not convinced that they have hit the nail on the head. Seems a fair pov.

 

[Mayfair Seagull]

Management - all a bunch of wankers!

I only posted this because it was suggested that I don't know what I'm talking about. Wasn't trying to impress (spent long enough getting this new jobs so I can't be all that) just making the point that maybe I have a valid view. However, as the young guns point out - design is no place for old farts - I'll leave it to the lads to come up with the concepts.

Mayfair - we were never not friends, it's just a point of view. I'd still like to see what people think the logo should do and be for before we start assessing designs. I praise your efforts - but I'm not convinced that they have hit the nail on the head. Seems a fair pov.

Essentially i think we both want the same thing for our club; a great brand identity. Since 1997 we have had an appalling badge and this is something I challenged both Martin Perry and Dick Knight on in 2001. At that point in time they made it clear to me that the issue of our badge was not open to discussion.. so I have waited until a change in chairmanship to again try and influence the club to see that we need to change our identity.

I think I'm talking for us both when I say that neither of us are looking for financial gain from this, more to give the club something that we as both fans and designers can be proud of.

I don't know what you think of this and you may well tell me to get stuffed but rather than argue about the quality of my work to date, I would prefer it if we could work together to influence the club into understanding that the vast majority of fans just do not like the current badge and a change to either something new or a refreshed version of the classic roundel is long overdue.

I hear what you're saying about a brief, and of course I agree with you. But in order to pave the way for a brief to be forthcoming we need to firstly get the club to agree it is high time we binned the current badge and our fans should have a say on its replacement.

 

[Marc]

that seagull is shit! keep the original seagull I say!

 

[Titanic]

If we must have a seagull on the badge, can't we have a stylised one that looks like a Nike swoosh thingy... that would be kool!

 

[Mayfair Seagull]

that seagull is shit! keep the original seagull I say!

Seriously, you prefer the pregnant one?