The Stars are back

Two years ago BNZ changed from its Colin Simon designed logo to the one above labeled 'old'. That previous change was covered in a few places UnderConsideration having a good review and some good opinion. It was also covered on Design Assembly with added new points of view over the recent change. Again the redesign was handled by DNA. More information can be found here on the press release.

At first glance I feel it is a nice change. The four star southern cross is uniquely New Zealand. The word-mark retains it bubbly friendliness, while refining the edges to be more square.
The above word-mark is an alternative logo drawn by Kris Sowersby. It is " an optically corrected ’sloped Roman’ based directly on Serrano". Serrano — the font that is used by BNZ on all its collateral — also designed Sowersby.

Supe Doope

The SANZAR annual rugby competition has changed numbers from 10, 12, 14 and now — for the 2011 season — to 15. So finally someone decided to change the name to move away from the amount of teams in the competition. The use of numbers as a competitions name is only really seen in NCAA College sports in the US and that also has had some unique design problems (Big 10 having 11 now 12 teams).

Before I get into the logo design, the logo itself has to be able to work as a patch on a playing jersey, as logo on related ephemera and have room above to connect with each countries competition sponsor, like the previous. Which was designed by Australian studio Coast Design.

I was never a fan of the name Super 12 or 14, but Super Rugby seems worse at this current time. Colloquially — Super 15 is being used — so maybe the number of teams helps people remember the number of teams and connect it more with the history.

Now onto the logo design, there is not really a comparison between the new and the old. They seem 'worlds apart'. The Previous logo packed in everything; a rugby ball, the countries in the hemisphere the number 14 in your face twice all into a round emblem, that seemed like overkill. The new is clean and clear with a strong image. And at a time when sports logos seem to get the whole 9 yards (3D effect, shadows), the minimal design is a nice change.

The biggest let down is the type, the condensed Gothic characters are a good solid choice, but the application of these characters is were it goes wrong. The dropping of one 'R' in favour of enlarging the remaining, is not a choice that reads well. The changing of scale also confuses legibility.

But overall I like the logo change I probably could do without the gradient, but I imagine it just being the symbol on the sleeve of a red and black jersey with Richie lifting his ever tired trophy wielding arms. ;)