Review: Madison Radicals (AUDL)

Part of the series critiquing the professional Ultimate team logos and nicknames.

Team: Madison Radicals

Web: https://radicalsultimate.com // twitter: @MadisonRadicals

Representation: City // League: AUDL

Disc within logo?: No. // Ultimate element in team name?: No.

Background: Madison is the capitol of Wisconsin and home to the main campus of University of Wisconsin. Student protests have occurred since the Vietnam War. In 1970, an antiwar effort included a bombing of a university building with labs linked to the military. [More details, updated May 2016]

Zeus, often seen with lightning bolts in hand, is known as the God of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice. Bolts of lightning can be found as a divine mythological, plus used in the emblem of comic superheroes (Captain Marvel, The Flash, Shazam, et al).

First impression(s): The team name conjures up Bart "Radical Dude" Simpson, while the logo reminds me of those handy Incredible HULK fists (that hold beverages).

Eli's Eval: Fight the Power! (An homage to their built-in liberal fanbase & the '68 Olympics salute?) An all-around solid design. This is another instance of custom-drawn and conceptually sound design. The lightning bolt is a bit out of place, but they had to finish the forearm somehow, so...why...not..a bolt? On the web, the green color appears a bit icky, but is contrasted well with the blue hue. I think it will work nicely. Nothing overdone here.

The fingers look a little too much like cocktail weenies, and the spaces between them are a bit too big. The white stroke outlining the entire "R" and thunderbolt and fist ends abruptly in the counter of the "R", ostensibly to make way for the thumb, but I think the designer could have continued it to make it more cohesive. Overall it comes together, and is iconic at smaller sizes.

:Eli's Grades:
Grade: A-
On Logo: A-
On Typography: B+

Thoughts on this AUDL's team name & logo?