Posted by QCS  7/22/2020 1:04 pm | #1 |
Today the Charlotte MLS team revealed their name, colors, and logos.
The team name is Charlotte Football Club and the colors are Panthers blue, black, white, and silver. The explanation of the crest is as follows:
"CROWN: The centerpiece, a four-point crown, representing the four original wards coming together as one to celebrate the royal legacy behind our city's name.
TYPE: An engraving-style typeface set in a bold black and white palette creates a unified balance of both contemporary and historical references.
MINTED 2022: Also meaning "freshly made", commemorates the inaugural year of the club and a new era for Charlotte soccer, reflecting our heritage and our future, a badge of belonging to a city on the rise.
CREST: Honoring both past and present, our crest is inspired by a classical coin symbolizing Charlotte's history minting American legal tender and its modern ascendance as a major financial capital."
Also included is a secondary monogram and the wordmark.
The team's slogan is "Newly Minted." The jerseys will be revealed at a later date.
As a fan, I'm incredibly happy. Despite the disappointment of the name being bland the logo is incredibly solid and I literally jumped out of my seat when I saw the CLT FC logo. Finally we have a team willing to acknowledge the city's history and Queen City moniker, even if it's a passing reference. My preferred nickname is the Crowns, I'm hoping the kits will utilize pinstripes in some way, as it's become something of a Charlotte tradition. I think the crest is solidly in the top half of the league and the monogram is an excellent secondary logo that I hope is used by itself on one of the kits.
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Posted by Thehealthiestscratch 7/22/2020 1:30 pm | #2 |
I know getting a knew team in your city can put on some bias goggles when they reveal something, but tbh, QCS, I'd be a little disappointed if I was in your shoes. At first glance, there is nothing wrong with the primary, but I feel a lot more could have been done to be unique, and even where they hit the mark I question if it could be done better. The crest shape is uninspired and the crown looks very plain, which I could accept if it was a 1:1 of the crown on the flag but it isn't. The "minted" is very clever and I love the idea, but the two dots on the other side for the year seems so weird. I know it is to balance six characters on both sides, but it does not sit right with me. I think the "CLT" logo is superior and I hope they use it on the jersey in place of the primary like Flamengo or Rangers do. Even with this secondary being a plus, I am still baffled by the font selection. It feels clunky and heavy to me when considering it incorporates 5 letter. Then there's the name. WOOF! I'd put the team right in the middle of the pack when it comes to comparing them to the MLS. They could jump up a little depending on the jerseys. If they use that vertical stripe pattern from the primary logo presentation I think that would look slick and unique to the league.
In conclusion, the marks are better than my team's logo (Phoenix Rising), and they are in the MLS unlike my team, so who am I to talk? haha
Congrats on the new squad, QCS. Hopefully no other cities with a great pitch for expansion come along again because I'm hoping to have the excitement you have for a MLS team in my city too. See you soon, Love Phoenix.
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Posted by QCS 7/22/2020 1:43 pm | #3 |
I wholeheartedly agree there's ton they more they could've done, I'll probably be less high on it after the "new team" thing has worn off, but for now I'm just excited to have a team. I agree that the CLT FC logo is the better one and I hope we get some readjusting later on to place it on the primary but the very least they could do is place it at least one of the kits, otherwise there's not much use in having it.
The problem with the crown is the city actually owns the trademark on it and is very hesitant to lend it out, and I imagine Tepper wasn't too keen on paying royalties to the city (even though he should've) leading to the new crown. I think the two dots around 2022 is odd because they don't fill the whole space vertically like a letter does, but you get used to it. As for the font, I actually really like it, it's a classical style that I think is fitting of the team and looks pretty good.
I'm hoping Phoenix gets a shot soon, they seemed to be number two if Charlotte didn't work. It's very odd for such a rich owner to come along with such a strong bid, MLS would've been stupid to turn him down. Speaking of Rising, I hope the name comes with the team, it's a nice unique name and I look forward to seeing a Crowns-Rising matchup in the future!
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Posted by sportsfan7 7/22/2020 2:08 pm | #4 |
If anything is indicative of MLS's failures as an organization, it is that Phoenix doesn't have a team yet. One of the largest cities in the US in a growing Metropolitan area and they have a large Hispanic population.
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Posted by Dan O'Mac 7/22/2020 2:21 pm | #5 |
First off, the colors. We knew the blue was coming, right? I would've liked more emphasis on the silver with the blue.
The crown in the primary just seems to be lacking... something. Like it was a step from being finished, but they slapped it on there anyway.
Minted 2022 is great. It's different than an "est. 2022" mark, in a good way.
I do think the CLT FC logo is stronger, but even still, I feel it's not a logo that makes me go "wow, that's a really nice logo!"
2x Alt Champion :: AltLB Champion Oklahoma City Bison - 2022 :: AltFL Champion New York Emperors - 2022
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Posted by MyTeamIsDr.Pepper 7/22/2020 2:42 pm | #6 |
*Shrugs shoulders* What can I say, I'm a fan. Maybe it's because I was expecting something ridiculous like Gliders or Monarchs, but I'm super relieved they look this good. I like the name, the colors and the crest. Sure there are some tweaks to be had but I would confidently put it in the upper half of team identities in the MLS. They work blue and black better than both Montreal and San Jose too already, who should ideally be blue and white and blue and yellow respectively anyway. I like the CLTFC monogram too. Good job Charlotte F.C. really like all of it!
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Posted by Stickman 7/22/2020 5:27 pm | #7 |
First the main logo: It's not bad, the standard fare for MLS it feels like. The crown is nice, but like it was mentioned before, is missing something. Maybe some black trim to help the crown pop out more? Those 2 dots by the year stick out like a sore thumb too. I will say the Minted thing nearly drew my ire before realizing Charlotte's history with minting coins. Upon discovery, this minted theme became my favorite part of the logo!
Color Scheme: A bit predictable, but it's fine. Would have preferred a different scheme other than blue and black though. While it may be better than San Jose and Montreal's use of those colors, they still got to that combination first. Charlotte could have picked an entirely new color scheme that they could have owned, but instead went Carolina Panthers with the scheme. Again not bad, just a little underwhelming and predicatable.
Overall, it's a decent look, but I've seen MLS do better. I've seen them do worse too though!
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Posted by QCS 7/22/2020 6:16 pm | #8 |
Stickman wrote:
[Well-written criticism snipped for space]
Overall, it's a decent look, but I've seen MLS do better. I've seen them do worse too though!
Those are my thoughts as well, it's not amazing, but it's certainly not awful. Seeing how both Nashville and Austin got poorly-designed logos I'm glad Charlotte escaped that trap. There are absolutely things I would tweak or change if I was in charge but it's a solid crest and I think the initial branding is a great start, hopefully the kits will really elevate the whole set.
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Posted by Steelman 7/22/2020 6:19 pm | #9 |
This one is a miss for me. Uninspired name, logo and design. The monogram is above-average but the rest of the set screams mediocre to me. In a vacuum I do like the type face which feels very Revolutionary War era Carolina but combined with the roundel and color scheme, I hate it. It looks shoddily slapped together and unfinished. When I first saw it I thought it was a concept utilizing clipart from a user here not a professional offering. No offense to any of our users! If my thought is "I could do better" then that's a problem as I'm not getting paid huge dollars to brand a pro team and I'm an above-average freelancer at best.
I suppose it's not terrible but certainly not what I was expecting.
