This past spring Major League Baseball (MLB) changed its famous logo of the iconic silhouetted batter. The ubiquitous logo was originally designed by Jerry Dior in the late 1960s and has remained largely untouched. The press release announcing the logo refresh mentioned “… taking a very deep dive at the evolution of the logo.” That deep dive resulted in two of the logo’s three colors being darkened a few shades. The red background changed from a firetruck hue to a deeper brick color. The royal blue was now navy blue. The silhouetted batter remained white. In the end, the league made a major deal about a minor change.
While MLB played it safe with its 50-year-old unchanged design, the collegiate leagues are embracing irreverent, well-designed logos, mascots and brand merchandise. And they’re including fans in the process. In 2013, the Kenosha, Wisconsin, team that plays in the Northwoods League (a collegiate summer baseball league) needed a name. So, the league turned to the fans. Residents of Kenosha submitted suggestions for the team’s name, and the winning suggestion, The Kenosha Kingfish, was revealed at the team’s launch party.