Academy Task 5: Ben's Branding Thoughts

[Ben]

Team's logos and branding in sim leagues is something I've always had a lot of thoughts about. In the ISFL I have often made comments on the teams I think should rebrand in my offseason tasks. Over there I have been involved in the league since the start so I have more of an idea about how the franchises have evolved whereas this will be a completely fresh look at the brands in the SSL. Just as a first observation before getting into more detail I think overall there is a higher standard of logos and brands here than in the ISFL. All the logos actually look like football badges you might see in real life, I don't see any glaringly obvious rebrand candidates in terms of design. Obviously I don't know much about the history of the clubs and their success or lack thereof which is the other reason for potential rebranding (or for sticking with a strong brand). Please let me know if I have got anything wrong or if there's anything I'm missing that might explain my questions.

 AC Romana
I wasn't 100% sure that this team was based in Rome until I found the team information sheet. I've never heard the term Romana, from what I understand it's interchangeable with Romanian? I'm usually not a big fan of having sim league teams in cities that have far more famous teams already established, in this case obviously Roma and Lazio. I think it's more fun to do something new and exciting. I think this badge is a little basic, probably the weakest in the league. I'm also not a big fan of the kits, the away is the best of the three. A bit strange that all three are made by different manufacturers too.

 CA Buenos Aires
I really like this badge and colour scheme. The adidas kits look good, the black third kit is my favourite. I don't know if I'm completely sold on the diagonal stripe though, I think it looks a little bit like a seatbelt. I know Buenos Aires has plenty of football teams as well but for some reason this branding still seems interesting to me. Maybe because it feels different enough from Boca/River Plate etc., maybe because I'm just more exposed to European clubs, or maybe because I'm just a hypocrite.

 CF Catalunya
I don't mind this badge but I don't love it. The "Est. 2022" looks a little plastered on. The colour scheme obviously fits the theme of the region, but again I think it would be more interesting to make a team in a region that doesn't already have a Barcelona or to a lesser extent Espanyol. To that point I do like the home kit, it reminds me of the Barcelona Catalan kit, although I don't like the away kit.

 Hollywood FC
I quite like this badge which almost surprises me a little as it's not exactly the usual sort of thing I'd be in to. If the 5 stars represent 5 championships I am a fan of that though. The colour scheme is solid, I like the home kit. Once again the diagonal stripe makes an appearance on the away kit, it reminds me of the LA Galaxy so if that was intentional well done. I don't like the camo third kit. I think this is an inventive way to have an LA based team which usually I wouldn't be crazy about.

 Reykjavik United
One of my favourite brands in the league, I think the badge is great, the colour scheme is unique and the location is interesting while also being realistic. The nike home kit looks great but unfortunately the green clashes with the other colours on the away and third kits. I'd love to see a full black or white kit with just a splash of green. 

 Schwarzwalder
Another of my favourites for all the same reasons as Reykjavik. The adidas kits fit the theme very well and are easily the best in the league in my opinion. My only knock I guess is the name could be a bit of a mouthful for some, but it's not that bad.

 Tokyo SC
This team also has a solid badge with a unique colour scheme and interesting location. It's not my personal favourite but I can easily see how it would be many others. It's interesting that the kits use a different pink than the apricot sort of colour from the badge, but regardless I actually really like the home and away kits. I don't really like the third kit visually but I respect the message behind it.

 Uniao Sau Paulo
This branding feels very realistic, probably because it's the same colour scheme as the real life Sau Paulo FC. Regardless the badge is very sharp, the kits are classic although the home strip needs a nike check on it so they are consistent.

[Ben]

I'm going to comment on the rest of the teams both in the minor league and academy as replies in this thread to keep things tidy. Since I wrote this article I realised that some teams have changed their kits for the new season so some of my comments on that may be out dated. Also since I wrote this article @Zerg has written their own article commenting on the branding of Swarzwalder and Montreal and I agree with absolutely everything said in it especially the gripe with clubs adding "United" for no reason.

I will comment on the rest of the team's branding in no particular order just whichever team I have some thoughts on at that time. And obviously this will be done week by week 200 words at a time lol. So to kick things off I might as well start with my own academy team;

Victoria Falls Eagles
I might be slightly biased but I really like this branding. A team from Africa is a great inclusion in the the league, football is an extremely popular sport there. The colour scheme and mascot come from the flag of Zimbabwe which is a cool touch. The kits are clean especially the black home strip. Hopefully we can start to see some quality results on the pitch to match our quality branding.

[Ben]

Continuing to look at the rest of the academy teams branding, for now it seems the S18 class will remain playing for these teams but maybe soon I will have a minors team to play for. In no particular order (it's the order the teams appear in as I scroll up in the academy team list channel on discord);

 Stockholm IK
This badge is classic, one could argue maybe a little boring but I like it. It's good to have Scandinavian representation in the league too. The colour scheme is great and I really like the kits especially the blue and yellow home kit.

 Sydney City
My personal bias against Australian sports teams is definitely going to show here but anyway. Of all the cities in the country Sydney is my least favourite, I would be able to stomach a better Australian city a little easier. I don't really like the badge or the colour scheme or the kit design. The dots on the home kit do remind me of an aboriginal painting a little so if that's the intention I guess that landed.

 Atletico Medellin
I like this badge a lot it's another classic. I also like the location choice, although there is plenty of South American teams around the league. I'm not a big fan of two of the academy teams sharing a colour scheme though, maybe some fresh kits could be done to help differentiate.

[Ben]

The S18 class will be staying in the academy for this season. I was excited at the prospect of playing for a minors team early but also I'm not upset about continuing to play in the academy, it has been a fun season so far. My team hasn't had a lot of success, we are currently bottom of the league but we have been involved in some really exciting games, and I've enjoyed watching the replays on youtube. Moving on to why I'm here let's look at some branding in the minors league, starting with the first one to catch my eye when I joined the league, and currently top of the table;

 North Shore United
I was very excited to see a New Zealand based sim league team, although I would prefer it was not based in Auckland I guess beggars can't be chosers. It could be worse, they could be named after an Australian animal (@TomHanks smh). Being an Auckland team is certainly more realistic than elsewhere in NZ though. The kits are fantastic, all black for home obviously fits the theme and the away strip is unique without going too crazy. I think the badge/logo needs work however. I get how the matau make an N and together an S and then the other a U and I think that's a cool concept, but it takes some studying to figure that out. I don't think it looks like a football badge, and then when it's turned sideways as above it works even less.

[Ben]

I am going to continue through the minors teams in order of the current standings, I doubt anyone reads this but if I do make an uninformed comment on a team I would be happy to be corrected or updated as to the reasoning behind a decision or the history explaining something I have missed as a new comer. Let's get to the teams;

 Inter London
I mentioned previously I don't really like sim teams in big cities that already have established teams and that applies here too, does London really need yet another team? I do have to give props to whoever made the logo, it is really nice, even if it's basically a ripoff of Milan's. The colour scheme and kits work really well because again it's the same as Inter Milan. I think this branding could be more creative, but I have to admit the execution of what it is has been done well.

 Athenai FC
I really like the location choice and branding for this team. The logo looks like a real football badge, the colours fit the theme and look great. I think these kits might be some of my favourite in the league, the checkered strip is maybe the most under-utilised in football, and it works extremely well here. The hoplite on the away kit is also very cool.

[Ben]

There has been some movement in the standings of the minor league since my last post so today I will be taking a look at the new third and fourth placed teams starting out in Egypt;

 Cairo City
A fun location unique from other sim leagues, as I've mentioned plenty of times in this thread I enjoy teams that have done that. The colour scheme works very well with the brand and theme. The badge is nice, it looks like a realistic football team. I really really like the away kit with the crocodile on it, I think that is an awesome way to have a point of difference but not going too over the top.

 FC Kaapstad
Another team from Africa, the continent having great representation in this league. I actually kinda assumed this was a Dutch location before checking the team information spreadsheet, but using the Afrikaans name for Cape Town is a cool touch. The badge is very nice, it would be one of the most realistic looking in the league I think. The colour scheme also is very South African, and the kits obviously work because of that too. The third kit to me maybe looks a little more Australian than South African but it's a small thing.