Really hate the shield, felt like it ha.d no legacy and forced upon us. Like the block I and I with ILLINOIS written through it.
Really hate the shield, felt like it ha.d no legacy and forced upon us. Like the block I and I with ILLINOIS written through it.
Don't be salty at those of us that see the shield as the type of logo you would find through a knock-off brand that doesn't want to pay for licensing rights but gets their apparel sold widely through Wal-Mart...
#NotTeamShield
I actually don't mind the shield logo, per say, but I do think it distracts from the overall branding of the athletics program. If you look at college sports in general, a vast majority are unified into a single logo and, in some cases, a variation of that logo (e.g. a mascot image incorporated into it sometimes, other times not). If you're a top tier program with existing brand recognition (e.g. Alabama, ND, Michigan etc.) you can experiment more, but we're nowhere close to being in a position where we can reasonably sustain two largely separate logos for the same athletic program and still be able to build an identity around both.
I've lost count of how many family/friends I've spoken to that have asked me what the shield logo was and why it exists. It just confuses the overall brand of the program. I can see having a separate one outside the athletic program for practicality purposes (as mentioned above re: the column), but I don't see any reason to have more than within the athletic program.
I'm seriously going to miss the academic logo. I've always thought it was the best looking I in our arsenal. As bigtiny shows a few posts up, many schools that take athletics seriously still have academic logos.
Definitely a big fan of the shield
Because of how fearsome the native Illinois people were when armed with their shields?
Yeah, that was snarky, but seriously, what's the appeal? Why not a giant, flame-throwing robot, with laser eyes?
One of those schools was North Carolina
I don't mind the shield, but a shield is more like a defensive tool, whereas a Fighting Illini charges into the arena and rips the heart out of Hoosiers and Hawkeyes then holds it up while it's still beating and shows it to them before they crumble to the floor.
Did I take it too far?:huh:
Oh, yessssss.
I think the shield is, well, what it is. Something the university paid a lot of money for, and looks like it. It's forced and contrived, and has to be explained. If you were at a locale where a lot of people wearing college logowear are gathered, you'll recognize Alabama's A, Tennessee's T, North Carolina's NC... No one is going to know what the heck that shield is. The big orange I. Yeah, that's Illinois.
Further, on the shield, it reduces the size of the I, to achieve what? The colors even work against it. The orange stripes come out looking red, because we're used to seeing red stripes with blue. So who is this red, white and blue logo anyway?
and if not , then .
I don't mind the shield, but a shield is more like a defensive tool, whereas a Fighting Illini charges into the arena and rips the heart out of Hoosiers and Hawkeyes then holds it up while it's still beating and shows it to them before they crumble to the floor.
Did I take it too far?:huh:
I think you might have misread my post. UNC proves my point. As we all know, they take athletics too seriously.
Because of how fearsome the native Illinois people were when armed with their shields?
Yeah, that was snarky, but seriously, what's the appeal? Why not a giant, flame-throwing robot, with laser eyes?
A lot of the updated identity is based on the history of Fighting Illini, the soldiers of World War I and how the teams fought on the field back in the 1920s. The columns of Memorial Stadium are truly unique in college football. Each one is dedicated to Illinois veterans that died in WWI. When Nike learned the history behind the columns, combined with how much of a force Red Grange was to college football in the early 20th century, they came up with the Victory Badge. It incorporates a military style theme (like the Badge of Honor), the columns, Grange's original jersey design in the 1920s and the look of a modern superhero.
I kind of liked the academic logo. Like these at peers:
I kind of liked the academic logo. Like these at peers:
100% agree. Especially since our academics is so much better than our athletics at the moment.
Also, while we're on this topic...Dan, what are the odds of getting the colors on the website updated to match the orange coloring now being used?