Thursday, October 13, 2011

LAdesignGuy Speaks Out

Last month we made note of several subtle tweaks to the Dodgers logo. Now, Dodgers art director Ross Yoshida (@LAdesignGuy) explains the changes to Uni Watch:

The Dodgers script with a red baseball and streaks (or "shooting ball," as we refer to it internally) has been in use since at least 1938. Were we about to change our primary mark because of its flaws? No way. In fact, the logo and script have gone through several tweaks and redrawings over the years. We're simply viewing these latest tweaks as part of this evolution.

The most obvious change is the thickening of the ball and streaks and making the line weights uniform. This was done mostly to solve the problem of the red lines getting lost at smaller sizes.

In addition, the Dodgers script was given an overall "refresh"—angles are sharper/cleaner and the script now has a more natural flow (the loop on the D, elimination of the stub on the o, the transition from the g to the e). The end of the underflourish also has an inverted scoop, subtly mimicking the underflourish on our jersey script.

Yeah, you gotta be a font geek to appreciate this. Speaking of which, anyone read "Just My Type" yet?

3 comments:

Josh S. said...

Suck it, Ryan Vogelsong!

RT @MLB:
"Lance Berkman and Jacoby Ellsbury are recipients of the 2011 Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Awards."

Kyle Baker said...

LAdesignGuy is a great guy...have had some cool interactions with him over the last few yrs via Twitter. I always note the subtle additions to, say, theme nights at the Yard that he has worked on (e.g., fonts used on ribbon board during 70s night).

I like the updated logo just fine, and appreciate the explanation, but I will have to get used to the loss of the stub on the "o", LAdesignGuy! I'm fragile after this trying season, and it's a lot to pile on me to make a change like that to a time-tested logo.

DodgersKingsoftheGalaxy said...

Like Lasorda said "you hear Dodgers, you know it's baseball!" Can't be anything else! So why do you need a little baseball "shooting" in the logo?