National Football League - Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks Unveil New Logo/Colors

The New Logo: Behind the Scenes

Rumors have been flying for the past several months regarding something about the Seahawks unveiling a new logo. Email inquiries were pouring in to the Seahawks office wondering if it was true, when would it be announced, and any sneak peaks forthcoming?

Arriving at a new-look logo was not a recent decision but has been several years in the making. Seahawks team president Bob Whitsitt takes you behind the scenes on the genesis of the project.

To Begin

"We’ve been working on the logo and colors for a couple of years, and it started with whether we should do anything in conjunction with moving into the new stadium, because that’s a logical time if you’re going to make changes and improvements. That’s the right time to consider it. We hired a company to do focus groups with our current season ticket holders, former season ticket holders, and with people that just buy occasional game tickets. We wanted to get a real good read on what our fan base felt about the look.

"After that process got done what they told us was, generally speaking, 'we like the logo, but we would like to see you freshen it up, toughen it up a little bit. We like the tradition, but can you freshen it up, can you toughen it up a little bit and modernize it so that it can last for the next 25 years.' That’s what our customers told us they wanted to see, and we got to work on it.

"Probably the best thing was adding a new color: we call it ‘Seahawk Blue’ and it will be bordered by a navy blue, which is good because we have a Navy presence in the Puget Sound. It also retains the green trim. The Seahawk blue will also be the primary color on most seats in the stadium. It’s a better color, the focus groups and the retailers all feel the new Seahawk blue is a color people would want to wear every day.

"We wanted to do two things: we wanted to keep our history and tradition that we’re very proud of, to keep that life alive. And we wanted to bridge it to a little bit more of a “today, tomorrow” look and feel and combine the best of both worlds. And it works out that it will be done in conjunction with the new stadium and with a move into a new conference. We tried to get as much “new" in there as we could while preserving what our customers wanted us to preserve, which is our history and tradition.

The Logo

"When we went into it we were open minded. Had our customers and our season ticket holders all said: “We don’t like that,” we would have really looked at a whole new approach. We were very happy that they liked it and felt good about it. You don’t want to re-invent the wheel; if it’s going pretty good stay with it. But they did say we could probably freshen it up a little bit.

"Fans taking their first look at the new logo will immediately recognize it and say “That’s my Seahawks!” But a lot of people won’t know exactly what the differences are until you point them out. And that’s what you want, you don’t what people to notice every little thing you did to it. Instead, it works to have them notice the change but then have to focus in on what exactly is different. Of course the easiest way to see the difference is to have the old and the new version side by side.

"The fans love the Seahawk, and if he gets a face lift every 25 years, a little more modern, that’s a good thing. Again, if the fans had said what we had was perfect we would have kept it. And it’s the same with the uniform. We didn’t abandon our colors, we’re still a blue- it’s a different blue, and we actually have two types of blue now. We still have a green in the logo. We tried to keep the same thematic elements, but make them fresher and more modern. And it applies a little more to the Puget Sound with a Seahawks blue and a navy blue, along with the silver and the green. The football guys love the new look. I think with the changes we’ve made the Seahawk is a little tougher. He’s been freshened up and he’s ready to be a playoff Seahawk.

Merchandising

"We’ll have new things for people, cooler items that are exciting and that younger fans will want to wear. I think anytime you modernize things and make it fresher people are more apt to want to buy it."

Stadium Colors

"Many of the seats in the stadium will be a Seahawks blue, with the new logo appearing throughout. We would like to get as much of the Seahawk color scheme in there as we can. We did that in Portland at the Rose Garden with the black and dark red whenever we could. We want to get as much of that feel in there as possible so you feel a Seahawk presence."

And in the End

"We went with what the market is thinking out there. If they wanted a complete overhaul we probably would have considered that, and if they wanted us to do nothing we probably would have kept it that way. But they actually said: “You know, we like it, but can you do something to freshen it up?” And they didn’t know what they wanted and we didn’t either. It looks real simple, but we went through a lot of concepts.

"You don’t what to do things just to do things, or to make your new mark. I think if you’ve got something going pretty good stay with it. But I also like the fact that we’re going into a new stadium and a new conference, kind of get it all done at the same time. That’s the next chapter of the Seahawks, to freshen it up at the same time. 25 years from now when people are looking back at it, hopefully it’s the same, and you’ve got a real long run with it and you’re feeling pretty good."

This article was taken from www.seahawks.com.  All rights reserved.