News - 12/03/2004

Pioneer League (baseball) - Orem Owlz

Orem Owlz Unveil Nickname, Logo

Orem Owlz - Primary Logo

Say hello to Owlz Baseball! In front of an enthusiastic crowd of fans, community leaders, and media members, the Orem Owlz were introduced along with their new team logo, colors, and website. The announcement was made in a conference suite on the campus of Utah Valley State College in Orem, overlooking the team’s new ballpark, Parkway Crossing Stadium. Front office personnel joined with new majority owner Jeff Katofsky and his partners in making the announcement.

“This marks a new era for minor league baseball in Utah,” said Katofsky. “We have a new name, a new ballpark, a new attitude, and we are committed to building on the championship team Utah County fans have come to expect.” Katofsky was making reference to the 2004 Pioneer League Championship that the organization brought home this past September and the four divisional titles in four years the club has garnered since professional baseball was introduced to this market in 2001. “We intend to significantly increase our activity in the community,” stated Katofsky. “We intend to embrace the community in hopes that they will embrace us in return.”

The new brand was created by Dan Simon, of Studio Simon, and has caused quite a stir, both locally and nationally.

“There's an old saying: ‘It is easy to fish when you have good bait,’” said Simon. “So when Jeff (Katofsky) shared with me his vision of re-branding the Provo Angels by giving it a great name like Orem Owlz, I knew immediately that this was a project in which I certainly wanted to be involved.”

A few of the new majority owners enjoy the festivities announcing the new Orem Owlz name at the 12/3 press conference. From L to R: Mark Yumkas, Alex Katofsky, Jeff Katofsky, Steve Twersky, and Jeff Cohen.

“The new name was filled with a wide range of creative possibilities: the round head specific to many owls led beautifully to the baseball tie-in; the dynamic nature of winged flight made for dramatic iconographic imagery; and the letters that make up the name lent themselves particularly well to the creation of unique, custom typography,” he continued. “In order to effectively market a team, one must have at their disposal all of the requisite components that make up the visual building blocks of the brand. Having this wonderful—and plentiful—‘bait’ facilitated the development of a cohesive identity system complete with all of the necessary elements, from the primary team mark to the alternate and secondary marks and lettering treatments.”

The new website, Oremowlz.com, was also unleashed today, featuring the Owl eyes moving, opening and closing to set a new standard for Minor League websites. Created by Ferolo|More, in Chicago, Illinois, this new website will impart more information to fans with a more user friendly, interactive approach. “Quality websites are essential to a new brand,” said Jim Ferolo, chief designer and partner in Ferolo|More, “and these designs and logos make our job fun and easy.”

The Owlz will be releasing a commemorative logo, as well a kid’s logo, prior to the start of the season to mark the beginning of the Parkway Crossing era. The Owlz mascot will be soon to follow. Be sure to check back here at www.oremowlz.com to keep track of new developments as the team prepares for a new championship season…with a new name, new ballpark, and a new attitude.