Review: Austin Sol (AUDL)

Part of the annual series critiquing professional ultimate team logos and nicknames.

Team: Austin Sol

Web: http://www.austin-sol.com/ // twitter: @atxsol

Representation: City // League: AUDL

Disc within logo?: Sort of; okay. // Ultimate element in team name?: No.

Background: There have been other pro teams called the Sol in Miami (WNBA) and in Los Angeles (Women's Professional Soccer). Florida and California are locations generally considered to be associated with sunshine. On average, there are 228 sunny days per year in Austin, Texas.

Via the Austin's 'About Us' section, they attempt to sol-splain: "What does it mean to have sol? Ultimate is a coed sport defined by ‘Spirit of the Game’ and players feel strongly about the unique culture of the ultimate community. Austin moves to its own beat; an outdoor, musical and friendly place that we're glad to call home. We aim to blend these two together into something special. Our goal is to harmoniously blend the spirit of Austin – friendly, musical, and uniquely weird with the athletic sportsmanship that defines ultimate."

First impression(s) from SLUDGE: While Austin is called the live music capital of the world, glad to see the Sol modulated away from their original guitar pick logo.  "S.O.L." is an unfortunate acronym. So, if a team launches in 2015, yet plays their first season in 2016, which should be the "ESTd" ("established") year on record?

Eli's Eval: This is an example of professional design for a professional team. The main logo consists of a shield that frames the team name/logotype, their sun/disc icon, a crown and two flags. It is balanced and clean considering the amount of information in it. Little things like the exterior stroke acting as a line on the crown really tie the entire suite together. There is an excellent consideration for weight and space, going so far as to have a double stroke on the crown and flags but not on the rest of the exterior. In addition to that the colors all work together without vibrating the way a bright orange and blue combination (complementary colors) generally do.

The sun icon doubles as a disc and is used separately in some scenarios and really stands out on its own. The added star in the negative space of the "L" is a nice nod to Austin as the capital of the Lone Star State. There is some inconsistency in the in-line stroke on the word "AUSTIN" giving it an oddly inconsistent 3D effect.

There is also a beautiful monogram that incorporates the star that is used on the light jersey and in secondary situations but is, on its own, better than most of the primary logos other teams put forward.

:Eli's Grades:
Grade: A
On Logo: A
On Typography: A (but points off for the weird stroke stuff on the "AUS"