Did you hear? Today the Los Angeles Clippers officially announced their new logos and branding:
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No wait, it's this one:
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Okay...
Well, while the team and Teh Ballmer Himself thinks it's all that, The Militant, and perhaps the rest of Los Angeles, and maybe even the sports world as well, thinks it's kind of meh at best. While not hideous, it's...just kind of there.
Full disclosure, in case you don't know: The Militant is a lifelong Lakers fan, but he's not a Clippers hater. He was pulling for them during the NBA Playoffs this year, which have recently been won by some Bay Area team. But this is still a Los Angeles professional sports team, and they have been here for 31 seasons already, so you might as well deal with it.
Look, if you're going to make a logo, it better mean something, or at least stand for something. The Nike Swoosh, the McDonalds' Golden Arches. The NBC Peacock, etc. You'll know it when you see it.
The inter-nested "L-A-C" (or "C-L-A?") kind of L-A-C-Ks something. It's mildly clever, but it doesn't stand for anything. The basketball icon's lines suggest arrows and it looks like the "L-A-C" is being crushed like that trash compactor in the first "Star Wars" film.
The Ballmer has respected enough of the team's history to keep The Clippers in town, and even keep the name, which was a holdover of the previous San Diego-based franchise, a reference to the tall-sailed merchant ships that once sailed into that city's harbor. Clipper ships were popular in the mid-19th century as fast ships that carried freight across oceans with relative speed, the last of the wind-sailing vessels until steam engines took over the maritime transportation industry a few decades later. And FYI, clipper ships once sailed into Los Angeles Harbor back in the day, though Los Angeles was just a minor port city back then. Of course, once a year you can still see clipper ships sail in San Pedro.
But The Ballmer missed out on the biggest opportunity for the team's re-branding: Changing the team's colors. Colors are a big deal in sports fandom. Just ask any blue-blooded Dodger fan, for example. Red, white and blue might work in a patriotic sense but what does it have to do with Los Angeles or clippers?
A perfect example: Once upon a time, a basketball team moved to Los Angeles. Years later, the team's new owner wanted to change the team's logo and branding. Out were the team's blue and white and in were purple (originally called "Forum Blue") and gold, adapted from the owner's other sports team, the Los Angeles Kings (purple being a regal color). The owner was Jack Kent Cooke and the team was, of course, the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, the Kings dropped their purple and gold and those colors have been synonymous with the Lakers ever since.
So the Clippers could have put more thought and time into this logo/branding thing and come up with a new color scheme and a kick-ass logo. Granted the new one looks a little more bold on uniforms, but stands to be rather dated in a few years. Maybe then they'll come up with something better.
Ballmer also missed out on the opportunity for The Clippers' official team mascot:
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Have fun, Clipper fans!
No wait, it's this one:
Well, while the team and Teh Ballmer Himself thinks it's all that, The Militant, and perhaps the rest of Los Angeles, and maybe even the sports world as well, thinks it's kind of meh at best. While not hideous, it's...just kind of there.
Full disclosure, in case you don't know: The Militant is a lifelong Lakers fan, but he's not a Clippers hater. He was pulling for them during the NBA Playoffs this year, which have recently been won by some Bay Area team. But this is still a Los Angeles professional sports team, and they have been here for 31 seasons already, so you might as well deal with it.
Look, if you're going to make a logo, it better mean something, or at least stand for something. The Nike Swoosh, the McDonalds' Golden Arches. The NBC Peacock, etc. You'll know it when you see it.
The inter-nested "L-A-C" (or "C-L-A?") kind of L-A-C-Ks something. It's mildly clever, but it doesn't stand for anything. The basketball icon's lines suggest arrows and it looks like the "L-A-C" is being crushed like that trash compactor in the first "Star Wars" film.
The Ballmer has respected enough of the team's history to keep The Clippers in town, and even keep the name, which was a holdover of the previous San Diego-based franchise, a reference to the tall-sailed merchant ships that once sailed into that city's harbor. Clipper ships were popular in the mid-19th century as fast ships that carried freight across oceans with relative speed, the last of the wind-sailing vessels until steam engines took over the maritime transportation industry a few decades later. And FYI, clipper ships once sailed into Los Angeles Harbor back in the day, though Los Angeles was just a minor port city back then. Of course, once a year you can still see clipper ships sail in San Pedro.
But The Ballmer missed out on the biggest opportunity for the team's re-branding: Changing the team's colors. Colors are a big deal in sports fandom. Just ask any blue-blooded Dodger fan, for example. Red, white and blue might work in a patriotic sense but what does it have to do with Los Angeles or clippers?
A perfect example: Once upon a time, a basketball team moved to Los Angeles. Years later, the team's new owner wanted to change the team's logo and branding. Out were the team's blue and white and in were purple (originally called "Forum Blue") and gold, adapted from the owner's other sports team, the Los Angeles Kings (purple being a regal color). The owner was Jack Kent Cooke and the team was, of course, the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, the Kings dropped their purple and gold and those colors have been synonymous with the Lakers ever since.
So the Clippers could have put more thought and time into this logo/branding thing and come up with a new color scheme and a kick-ass logo. Granted the new one looks a little more bold on uniforms, but stands to be rather dated in a few years. Maybe then they'll come up with something better.
Ballmer also missed out on the opportunity for The Clippers' official team mascot:
