On Monday afternoon, two months after they first asked fans to submit designs and vote on their favorite, the Cleveland Browns unveiled the new logo for the Dawg Pound, the official fan section at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
“We are so excited to unveil the new dawg logo that perfectly encapsulates who we are as a franchise and as a city,” executive vice president J.W. Johnson said. “Our fans have been asking for a new dawg logo for quite some time, so it made perfect sense for them to select the logo themselves and decide how they want our team to be represented – an they made a great choice.”
Created by graphic designer Houston Mark, who you may remember from our Detroit Lions redesign contest, the new logo pulls inspiration from a mastiff, which was chosen by fans earlier this year as the breed that best fits the franchise, and has various nods to the city of Cleveland, the Browns and the state of Ohio.
That includes the guitar pick and spikes representing the Browns’ eight league championships on the collar, the outline and east end zone of Cleveland Municipal Stadium on the dog tag, Hope Memorial Bridge in the jowls, the helmet stripe on the forehead, the maskless football helmet above the left eye and the state outline on the right ear.
“The thing I really wanted to focus on was the fans and the relationship they have with the team,” Mark said. “How can I make the Cleveland Browns fanbase the forefront of the design while also maintaining this aggressive, no-nonsense attitude?
“There was a lot of stuff in there I wanted to incorporate because there’s so much history to Browns fandom in particular. It was really important for me to honor and respect the history of the fanbase, the championships and the pride that comes with being a fan.”
Mark’s design was ultimately chosen over nearly 400 fan submissions and three entries commissioned by local artists. It marks the fourth logo for the Dawg Pound since the Browns were resurrected in 1999 and replaces the snarling dog that was introduced in 2015 alongside an updated primary logo and new uniforms.
“The fact that Browns fans felt represented by the logo was by far the most gratifying thing about this entire project,” Mark said.” To see that so many people felt connected and that they saw themselves in it was just incredible … To see my logo in an NFL stadium, on peoples’ shirts and people relate this logo to the Browns is the most incredible feeling.”
The new Dawg Pound logo, which now joins Cleveland’s iconic helmet logo and Brownie the Elf as official team marks, will be prominently featured in merchandise and other applications. Mark, meanwhile, receives four club seat tickets and a Browns prize pack for his winning submission.
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