The badge is crap, always has been. But the club have far more important things to worry about and spend money on than a rebrand. Nice to know you are helping the cause by boycotting club merchandise.
"The badge is crap".....but you think I am being mean to the club, by choosing not to purchase say a replica shirt, because it features a hideous and prominently badly designed badge, staring out from the chest? Why would I buy an ugly piece of kit to wear? Pretty jumbled thinking and unfair, on your part.
Not sure a replica shirt becomes ugly due to the badge on it.
"The badge is crap".....but you think I am being mean to the club, by choosing not to purchase say a replica shirt, because it features a hideous and prominently badly designed badge, staring out from the chest? Why would I buy an ugly piece of kit to wear? Pretty jumbled thinking and unfair, on your part.
Not sure a little becomes ugly due to the badge on it.
Why would one buy a club football shirt?
To feel good wearing it, comes top.
I strongly believe that the quality club badge is surely of central importance and is at the heart of the shirts appeal; if the badge is a joke design, then even if the shirt is a cracking one in overall appearance, it meaningless to the fan wearing it, with such a detracting monstrosity on the chest!
The current badge, which I believe is over ten years old, was poor from the outset and must rank as amongst the bottom ten in the country! Aredesign would be money well spent and is overdue.
I felt - and expressed the view at the time - that they should have been after a more contemporary "brand logo"... Evidently, instead they sought a rather "traditional" feel, which mistakenly ended up with a very outdated, boring & over fussy "blazer crest".
For illustration, compare (below) the CTSA "logo" (which still retains enough traditional elements) with the club "badge". CTSA Logo I think that we can all agree the CTSA logo deserves greater appreciation as a brilliant piece of "modern classic" design...(?)
...however, at this stage I would not bother to go to the (not inconsiderable) expense, effort & confusion of changing the club badge...!
I felt - and expressed the view at the time - that they should have been after a more contemporary "brand logo"... Evidently, instead they sought a rather "traditional" feel, which mistakenly ended up with a very outdated, boring & over fussy "blazer crest".
For illustration, compare (below) the CTSA "logo" (which still retains enough traditional elements) with the club "badge". CTSA Logo I think that we can all agree the CTSA logo deserves greater appreciation as a brilliant piece of "modern classic" design...(?)
...however, at this stage I would not bother to go to the (not inconsiderable) expense, effort & confusion of changing the club badge...!
I like the club badge, absolutely hate your example Thad its awful in so many ways. Most important though I do not want constant changes - I want the badge to remain and stay. It was never my 'first' choice so to speak but there's nothing 'wrong' with it and keeping it retains old and new merchandise etc. there are more important things to be concerned with at the club.
I agree George that I would not revise the current badge, as it does not make commercial or strategic sense. However the club badge only really works on a blazer. Unfortunately it fails to achieve the 1st principle of design, creating & enhancing brand identity. Funnily enough they attempted it with the "Gatwick diamond" approach, but there are far too many fussy elements including a very camp looking outline of a Red Devil.
Love it or hate it, you cannot make the same criticism of the CTSA logo. It deploys imagery that at a glance links you with the ONLY local landmark that is uniquely associated with our club... the football on the roundabout...! That IS the club brand George... only the club failed to spot it.
I think George is the first person I’ve heard say he likes the badge; so kudos for that. Normally opinions of it are on a spectrum of hate to unenthusiastic acceptance.
For me, I’ve never liked it. Thought it was too generic and was designed purely to try and fit the Gatwick diamond logo in. They didn’t even spot the opportunity to make reference to the roundabout football, by colouring the football on the badge black and white, rather than red and white (I agree with the point Thad was making, that we have a recognisable brand image on our doorstep).
This season watching the games on ifollow, the team badges are displayed alongside it each other a few moments before kickoff, and it always makes me cringe seeing our badge in comparison to some of the others. Despite all the years and some good memories of us wearing this badge I still haven’t warmed to it.
The equation comes down to cost of re-design versus commercial opportunity, does removing the Gatwick Diamond affect any commercial relationships ? Does a re-design provoke greater Club Shop sales ? It’s a quandary.
At the moment I’m sitting on the fence. Leave it for now but when we next get promoted, inaugurate our League One season with a new badge (I always loved the one worn in the first season in the conference but would be open to a new approach; just not something that looks like windows 95 clip art images).
I think George is the first person I’ve heard say he likes the badge; so kudos for that. Normally opinions of it are on a spectrum of hate to unenthusiastic acceptance.
Personally I quite like it. Fairly modern looking and whilst it wouldn't have been my first choice it's certainly not at the point where I would spend time and money changing it. However I accept there are those who like the more traditional look too. Each to their own.
I thought that the Gatwick Diamond Group pulled out of the deal once the badge had been agreed and it was too late to change it - but l may be wrong. I always said that it would look better without the outer black circle and white perimeter just leaving the shield.
I thought that the Gatwick Diamond Group pulled out of the deal once the badge had been agreed and it was too late to change it - but l may be wrong. I always said that it would look better without the outer black circle and white perimeter just leaving the shield.
I suspect that is very likely what happened Alain.
I recall a distinct impression from someone - maybe Matt Turner, but couldn't swear to it - that at one point, they were at an advanced stage & hoping for a fruitful business partnership that never materialised.
I felt - and expressed the view at the time - that they should have been after a more contemporary "brand logo"... Evidently, instead they sought a rather "traditional" feel, which mistakenly ended up with a very outdated, boring & over fussy "blazer crest".
For illustration, compare (below) the CTSA "logo" (which still retains enough traditional elements) with the club "badge". CTSA Logo I think that we can all agree the CTSA logo deserves greater appreciation as a brilliant piece of "modern classic" design...(?)
...however, at this stage I would not bother to go to the (not inconsiderable) expense, effort & confusion of changing the club badge...!
I thought the current badge was more contemporary rather than traditional as featuring the Gatwick diamond and West Sussex is not something we had done before, and to me it feels like this badge tries to incorporate too much.
I felt - and expressed the view at the time - that they should have been after a more contemporary "brand logo"... Evidently, instead they sought a rather "traditional" feel, which mistakenly ended up with a very outdated, boring & over fussy "blazer crest".
For illustration, compare (below) the CTSA "logo" (which still retains enough traditional elements) with the club "badge". CTSA Logo I think that we can all agree the CTSA logo deserves greater appreciation as a brilliant piece of "modern classic" design...(?)
...however, at this stage I would not bother to go to the (not inconsiderable) expense, effort & confusion of changing the club badge...!
I thought the current badge was more contemporary rather than traditional as featuring the Gatwick diamond and West Sussex is not something we had done before, and to me it feels like this badge tries to incorporate too much.
My confusing use of semantics JB.
With apologies for jargon overload... I used 'traditional' in line with poncey-nu-age-design-speak for the old-skool 'heraldic' quality of the badge imagery, as opposed to a more 'corporate signature' of the roundabout motif...
...I hope that clears it up, but fully aware that it might just add a bit more confusion.