Part of the
series critiquing professional ultimate team logos and nicknames.
Team: Seattle Cascades
Web: http://www.seattlecascades.com/ //
twitter:
@SeattleCascades
Representation: City //
League: AUDL
Disc within logo?: Yes. //
Ultimate element in team name?: No.
Background: The Cascades are a beautiful mountain range that extends from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. Since their first recorded exploration in the late 18th century by George Vancouver and his team, the Cascades have been filled with both history and folklore. Their logo reflects the strength, mystery, and vitality of the Cascades.[
via]
Upon buying the Seattle AUDL franchise, the Titcomb Family (of Five Ultimate fame) retired the previous team name -
Raptors.
First impression(s) from SLUDGE: Chewbacca, the legendary
Wookiee, joined the Blue Man Group! Hey, is that a hidden "5" on Casey's cheek?
Eli's Eval: This may be the single-best and most cohesively designed branding system of any professional ultimate team in either league. The wordmark is custom-designed lettering with a mountain range substituting for the letter A. The city name is san serif but blocky enough and italicized on the same angle as the team name. The points of the mountain range echo nicely with the extruded and pointy serifs on each of the letters that have them.
In addition to the wordmark there is a separate yeti icon that is delightfully monochrome in rich blues and blacks with bright yellow eyes and a highlight on the pug nose and one tiny sharp tooth that call attention to themselves and move the eye through the design. The official team discs have this icon printed playfully small on the plate which serves as a testament to the design, because it holds up at that size and also printed entirely across the chests of their light jerseys.
It works large. It works small. It works in color. And, I imagine it would work in black and white. It doesn't rely on any design gimmickry like gradients or heavy strokes. The wordmark can be separated into city or team name without losing any legibility or effectiveness, and they also work well together.
:Eli's Grades:
Grade: A
On Logo: A
On Typography: A
