Friday, April 19, 2013

Review: Seattle Rainmakers (MLU)

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

Team: Seattle Rainmakers

Web: http://SeattleRainmakers.com // twitter: @SeaRainmakers

Representation: City // League: MLU

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

Background: As any Seattle resident is happy to keep secret, Seattle is more "overcast than rainy." A rainmaker is: One who is known for achieving excellent results in a profession or field, such as business or politics. In slang, to "make it rain" is an inappropriate term as used in Make It Rain (2006), Fat Joe featuring Lil Wayne. Read MLU's name rationale.

First impression(s): An REI advertisement for rain gear. Also, the past Rainmakers logo looks very much like the DarkSide Emporers.

Eli's Eval: (Nicely drawn and the face resembles Bill Belichick.) I have a little voice in the back of my mind telling me I've seen this before. In my experience that either means: 1) I have seen it and this drawing is a copy of something that is already out there, or 2) it is new and iconic and timeless. 

I looked and looked and couldn't remember where I'd seen it. Then, in a flash, it came to me: the Providence Friars. The Seattle Rainmakers logo is highly derivative of the look + feel of the Providence College Friars' logo, with only the colors changed; possibly, even, a direct ripoff!
I expect PC lawyering up and throwing a Cease & Desist toward the Rainmakers, and a new Rainmakers logo in the near future. 

Side-by-side Comparison: Providence College (left) vs. Seattle Rainmakers (right)
:Eli's Grades:
Grade: F
On Logo: F
On Typography: F

Thoughts on this MLU's team name & logo?

6 comments:

J. Swan said...

Yeah, cause a logo with a guy in a hood facing right is definitely a ripoff of another one... This work is original. To say otherwise is to say that any logo with a slightly downward facing bird is a ripoff of the eagles, atlanta hawks, etc. And by the way you can't copyright "feel", so how about you get off your high horse and give this logo a real review.

enoogs said...

I stand by my opinions of this logo.

J. Swan said...

Fine. But I'm still curious as to the grades you would have given it had it not been, in your opinion, ripped off.

Anonymous said...

The first thing I saw was the Marvel comics character "The Sentry," a green, hooded figure. Also, the Philly Phoenix seems like a big ripoff of Jean Gray, aka Phoenix, who turns into a big bird of fire. Is my nerdiness showing?

enoogs said...

Hi J - If not for the similarity between this logo and that of PC, I would say that the logo overall gets an A-, A- for the guy in the hood and B+ for the type (it's just a bit too condensed to be that italicized and still be legible quickly). The drawing is great, but it would turn into a blob from far away.

The good thing is that you can iterate this man-in-cloak from different angles.

J. Swan said...

Thanks for the response. I really did enjoy this series, despite my disagreement with this one, and I thought you gave thorough, well thought out reviews.