Design Critique: The New NFL Logo

As a graphic designer and a fan of the NFL, I was definitely intrigued when the NFL announced they would be introducing a new logo for 2008. I am always in support of organizations that are willing to revise and update aging marks, so kudos to the NFL for taking the leap. Granted, to the laypersons eye, we aren’t talking about massive changes here, which makes it more of a hop than a leap, but to those of us who appreciate design, the devil is in the details.

Let’s start with the colors, shall we? In the new logo the blue is a richer, darker hue, and moves away from the Matisse blue of the previous mark. There is a shift in the red as well, albeit a much more subtle one. The red is simply a little less warm in the new design.

As far as the design itself, there are some obvious changes, the most notable probably being the reduction in the number of stars featured in the logo, from 25 to 8. From a pure design standpoint the new version allows for more negative space between the stars, which eases the crowding featured in the old mark. From a fan view, I enjoy the symmetry between the number of stars and the number of NFL divisions.

Next up, the football itself at the top of the shield goes from a two dimensional ufo to a more stylized version that echos the design of the Vince Lombardi trophy. The new version is more dynamic and fits in what is undeniably an awkward space a little better than its predecessor.

I think one of my favorite aspects of the new logo is the typography. For one thing we have more negative space in general, due to the fact that the weight of the new font is a little lighter and slightly smaller. The new font also employs a slab serif style as opposed to the previous rounded swoops. I think that the previous logo particularly suffers from the juxtaposition of serifs, especially on the tops of the letterforms where they nearly meet. The rounded serif on the “L” in the old version was probably an attempt to even out the weight of the word mark, but it is so heavy and leaves so little negative space that it resembles a “b” on reduction. The new typography is more balanced and cleaner.

The most subtle change of the design is probably the shape of the shield itself. The new mark is taller and slightly thinner. The sides are a little thicker, and the bottom has less of a pronounced curve. This was probably done to allow the typography to flow with a less awkward space than the original mark.

Overall, I think the redesign is quite a success. Reducing the old NFL logo must have been a nightmare for third party vendors, turning the stars into a sea of blurry dots and the type into the NFB. The new mark presents a cleaner, more legible, and much more functional design without departing from the spirit of the original logo.