The Minnesota Vikings, in the first stages of a franchise refurbish that includes a new stadium and possibly new uniforms, announced to season-ticket-holders this morning that the team has a new, cleaned-up logo. With thicker, cleaner lines, the logo will begin to appear immediately on their web site, in March on merchandise, and “as we go” in the new stadium designs.
Side-by-side for comparison
Not entirely new, rather a modernization of their current, the logo differs in 5 ways.
The horns are obviously different, but by how much? We have traced them, then laid one on top of the other so we can compare.
Difficult to tell in the full logo, the shape of the horn has changed quite a bit.
Taller, thinner, longer.. the old horn is different in many ways. The curves used to be almost “meandering” which now they are simpler and, as will be a theme throughout this design, cleaner.
The old horns had a dated hatching to provide depth and shadow. The new uses more solid, flowing black lines to create the same effect.
Shading and accenting changes
The changes bring the logo more in line with the Vikings helmet treatment, changed in 2006.
The 2006 – 2012 helmet logo
Will the helmet get a redesign if the team gets new uniforms? One would guess no, since this now almost exactly matches the logo.
The lines in the old logo were very thin, in an old-school way, which is to be expected, as the logo was first used in 1966, itself a cleaned up version of the logo created in 1961. Now, the lines are thicker, bolder, easier to reproduce. Several lines have changed, such as the cheekbones, eyebrow, mustache, and hair. The eyebrow has added a slight “furrowed” quality that makes the new logo look perceptively meaner, even though the change is small.
A new Vikings gold is used on the logo, a small tweak meant to remove some of the “brassiness” and make the color more vivid. We are looking into the exact specifications. Check back here for info as we get it.
Vikings logos; the head and the V, have always been tall and thereby a little challenging to work with. The new logo has a “rebraided hair style” that combines with the new horns to reduce the overall height.
The old logo is taller. Now, kiss.
This brings the logo closer to square, so it will be more gracefully included in spaces where it would previously be scaled a little small in order to fit.
So, those are the changes for the Vikings. How many did you notice right away? Do you like the massage, or do you wish they would have left it alone? Or, redesigned it completely?
JR Francis is an actor, writer, director, graphic designer, UX guru, father, comedian, and craft beer snob. You can reach him at jrfrancis@sportslogos.net or on Twitter @JRFrancisSLN *One of several full-time uniform reporters this site has including its founder, Chris Creamer, who started his site in 1997
Paul Pelkonen
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 15:56It's like the original Mighty Thor meets 90s Thor AKA Thunderstrike. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstrike_(Eric_Masterson)
Karol Sidorowski
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 15:57nice
Adam Hernandez
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:04A little goes a long way.
Chip Hendrix
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:05Need to go back to the deeper purple like in the 70's
Carlito
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:05i like it, good job now is a little stronger but still the same style
Michael Kersey
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:08Personally, I don't think there is enough there to warrant the change.
Trent Steffes
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:09I like the update. Makes it clean (for new uniforms??)
Troy Griggsby
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:16Nice. Now go back to the Alan Page uniforms. Stat.
Justin
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:25I like the changes, especially that they reduced the height but I wouldn't have been opposed to a total redesign.
C.d. Luebke
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:44I am a lifelong Vikings fan, and I dislike the changes a bit. The new horns look like sperm. (I wish they would go back to the old helmets, too.) The differences are subtle, but the old Norseman was better.
MxT
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:45It's certainly bolder, which is the same direction we saw the Cardinals and Panthers go recently to better market themselves to a rugged North American sports culture. The same goes for SUV's; thicker lines and proportional designs are more aesthetically appealing to those personalities. I like the upgrade, at least.
C.d. Luebke
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 16:45Totally agreed with Chip and Troy, by the way.
Travis
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 17:30A small upgrade, but a good one
dustyman
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 17:38more and more teams need to do this
Charles Bruns IV
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 18:07Negligible upgrade.
ingmar66
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 18:11We must have deeper purple for the logo and the new uniforms, they are the original purple gang of the NFL (and not the Ravens). As for the retouches, I like the thicker outlines of the update but the horns are now too short and not 3D enough. They look more like flames right now. I also liked the perfect arch acting as a robust shoulder under the head, now the arch is cluttered by hair. Which may look more realistic, but not as crisp. The gold looks a bit too pastel and powdery, it should be solid and loud, combined with deep purple. Like LSU.
Koozee Kingdom
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 18:12I guess that making it more square makes sense, but otherwise it seems like an unnecessary way to make all current merchandise out of date. If you didn't show them side by side, I probably wouldn't have been able to point out the differences; and I look at these logos everyday.
Marcus Jackson
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 18:21I like the new Viking. He does look just a tad meaner. The big change will be in the uniform set.
Brian Castner
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 18:49Not a bad update. Kind of like the Panthers and Jaguars and not exactly anything major. But not bad. Although the uniforms needed the change more than the logo. And please no going to a throwback/fauxback! Change them but make them something new.
Aaron
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 19:02If they can just stick with the subtlest changes, everyone is happy. I like them. Totally agree with most people saying darken the purple. The new gold looks pretty good.
Nick
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 19:14I'd like to see the actual Viking on the helmet, rather than just his horn.
Howard
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 09:37If Nike has their way, this logo will end up on an alternate Vikings helmet very soon!
Rich Hendrickson
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 19:16whoa guys... one step at a time here
54321
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 19:46Vikings update >>>> Jaguars update
MetalLegacy
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 19:56I don't really understand this update, but it's a lot better than what the Panthers and Jaguars did. Thy went all out and competley changed the logos. Sometimes, tradition is better than new and this is case and point.
madpanda
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 20:12As said, more of a mass-tweak than an upgrade. Still, deeper purple would be nice. What if they ditched the braid and let the Norseman's hair flow back freely? I always thought the braid and the back hair gave sort of a fishtail appearance.
Sue Rennie
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 00:33That's my team !
Howard
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 09:36Looks great. I wish the Los Angeles Lakers freshened up their logo like this.
b.a. smith
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 10:51I like it. The Buccaneers should've done the same think back in '97 instead of there current.
Aaron
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 11:31I somewhat agree, but the Bucs have had more success with their current logo and colours. So I don't think they'll be changing it any time soon.
Rob S.
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 11:47Minor Change so ok.I was kind of hopeing that they would go back to the previous horn on the helmet,but this updated logo,as pointed out above, is more in line with the minor 2006 horn change, so I think the helmet will be staying the same. If I owned the team I would go back to the early 70's Jersey's and helmets w/ darker Purple and be done with it
Ian
Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 11:37Dang it I LOLed at "Now kiss".