Central Hockey League - Memphis RiverKings

Memphis RiverKings Unveil New Logo

SOUTHAVEN, Miss.—The RiverKings unveiled their new logo Tuesday at the DeSoto Civic Center during an informal meeting to discuss organizing a club to support the RiverKings’ work with non-profit groups. For more information, call the RiverKings at 662-342-1755.

Robin Grindstaff Costa, president of the RiverKings and of the owning organization Maddox Foundation, said the changes are meant to improve the logo while keeping its main components.

“When ownership changes, usually the name of the team and logo also changes,” said Robin Grindstaff Costa, president of the RiverKings and of Maddox Foundation. “This was not the case with the RiverKings. The team name was well recognized after ten years, and we had an overwhelming response from the fans that they liked the turtle logo. We just wanted to give him an updated look.”

Logo designers have added teeth to the turtle’s menacing stare, to give the logo more ferocity. The logo’s inspiration draws from nature. A snapping turtle, which can weigh more than 70 pounds, does not hesitate to defend itself when disturbed, striking with amazing speed and force.

“Snapping turtles aren’t anything you would want to play with,” Community Relations Director Michael Rice said. “You wouldn’t want to mess with one. That’s an idea we wanted the updated logo to convey.”

Fans liked the addition of the razor-sharp teeth.

“I think it’s nice,” said fan Bettie Wheat, of Southaven. “I like the teeth showing. I think the colors are classy.”

The original green, aqua green, was changed to a forest green, and the antique gold was changed to a brighter “vegas” gold. The wave underneath the turtle was also removed. Then the crown and letters were outlined in a burnt sienna color.

“We felt that when the logo was reproduced in different formats, it sometimes appeared too dark, and the colors became indistinguishable,” Rice said. “We wanted the image to be a little lighter and to ‘pop’ a little. Lining the crown in a burnt sienna color, as well as the letters, really helped make those features stand out.

“When we took out the blue wave, it left us with basically a two-color logo, green and gold. We added the burnt sienna color to add a bit of zip. The new gold and sienna colors really compliment each other.”

The image now has tape on both ends of the hockey stick, which Rice said brought more attention to this feature.

“We are a hockey team, and we want people to know that,” Rice said. “With the addition of the tape and the color change, the stick now jumps out a little more.”

Designers also changed the font of the name. Formerly it was rolling, with the letters in the middle smallest and those on the ends largest.

“We felt that making all the letters the same size, with the exception of the ‘R’ and the ‘K,’ made it bolder,” Rice said.

Fan Ron Robinson, of Nesbit, wasn’t hard to please.

“I like it,” Robinson said. “I liked the old one, too. This is just a little improvement.”

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