Month: January 2021

Earlier last year, the new name, logo, and uniforms of the NHL’s newest team in Seattle were finally unveiled. The Seattle Kraken, to the joy of many fans, was the chosen name for the new team. The Kraken’s design of their name, logos, and uniforms was extremely speculated in the sports logo and uniform design community (yes, that’s a thing, and I am a part of it). Luckily, the unveiling of the team name, logo, and uniforms was well-received. I thought it was well fit to do a thorough evaluation of what I believe the biggest piece of design for the Pacific Northwest in recent memory.

The primary logo is a giant “S” the conceals the curvaceous tentacle of a Kraken, as well as a menacing red eye. Overall, the logo is actually quite clean and simple compared to most logos around the National Hockey League. I believe simplicity was the right way to go for this, as this is the maiden identity for the organization and will most likely slowly be modified over the course of the next few years. Without the red eye, I fear the logo would’ve been too bland and forgettable, so I love the touch of contrast in the primary logo. For those of you who do not know, this large “S” logo is most likely a nod to the history of professional hockey in Seattle. The Seattle Metropolitans, The Emerald City’s first NHL hockey team, won the first modern Stanley Cup in 1917. The team also had a large “S” in the middle of their sweaters, and I have to believe that gave some inspiration to the Kraken with their primary logo. The primary logo is the perfect balance of simplicity, but it still has a meaning and character lurking in the shadows. The simplified tentacle and contrasting red eye make for something interesting that could go on to be one of the many iconic logos in the NHL’s history. 

Now the secondary “anchor” logo is the sneaky hero of this whole rebranding. The combination of the Space Needle and an anchor is so simple, yet elegant. It was a move that was waiting right there to happen, and I love that they went with it. However, the logo in some respects can seem to look a bit plain and unsuspecting. I believe that there needs to be an extra element to the logo. Possibly another tentacle wrapping around the anchor? Or even just a dash of red to harmonize with the primary logo more effectively. However, I feel that this logo works extremely well as a secondary logo. It should not be so busy and distracting to the point where it overshadows the primary mark. For example, when looking at the Kraken’s uniform, the secondary logo is perfect how it is on the shoulders of the sweater, but I still feel that overall it is at about 85%.

The script logo displays “Seattle Kraken” in a sans serif font and a blackletter-type serif font that gives the feel of a gloomy maritime scene on the Puget Sound. I most of all appreciate the variety of both words, “Seattle” being in a more sans serif understated typeface and a larger “Kraken” being in a beautiful two-tone calligraphic design. There is not much else to say about this logo, I feel it fits well overall with the rest of the brand. It looks like the Kraken are really going for this maritime feel, which I appreciate… even though most of Seattle is just a bunch of coffee-drinking employees of the tech industry.

The Kraken’s color palette has the maritime feel that the overall design is going for. The different tones of blue and teal are very nice that gives a dark and disturbing oceanic feel, and the red brings a fire to all that darkness that can be seen as bold and courageous. I do feel though that there are too many colors on the official team color palette. Look at the most iconic sports teams of all time, usually, they only have 2-3 colors. I believe a more simplified color palette would work much better instead of a 5-color selection.

I believe that the design is one of the best pieces of sports design of 2020. The branding represents a city of history that needs a new team to cheer on, and a new sport to spread through the Pacific Northwest. Overall, I feel that this new identity will have a lasting impression on Hockey in the PNW and will be easily adaptable to the decades to come. I cannot wait to go to Seattle, buy an $11 Coors Light, and see those colors, logos, and uniforms for the Kraken’s maiden season in the winter of 2021.

Marshall McLuhan was one of the first modern examples of an electronic media theorist. His ideologies on the impact media have on society were extremely jarring to the public, which led to some of his thoughts being met with great scrutiny, especially from those in radio and television. McLuhan died in 1980 as a man who had fallen out of fashion and was often criticized for his polarizing takes on media and how it is seen through the eyes of people.

One of McLuhan’s most controversial theories was called hot and cold media. This was a scale in which McLuhan put many types of media such as radio, television, movies, newspapers, etc, on a scale of hot and cool. Hot meaning it takes less involvement to understand such as TV since it uses pictures and sound and easily communicates the point of what you are watching. Cool would take more involvement and more brainpower for one to process and understand, examples being radio and newspapers. This theory was criticized heavily, as the public thought was that different types of media could not be set in separate concrete categories, especially with advances in technology ramping up to light-speed with new tech being introduced every day.

After reading more about McLuhan’s theory, I have to say I would have been part of the angry mob that criticized him throughout his career. With today’s multi-faceted attack of media with TV news, social media, blogs, radio, and overall clickbait, I feel that there are simply too many different types of media to put in these two vague categories. Maybe if McLuhan had expanded his categories and gave more criteria for media, these arguments would not have taken place, and maybe we would even see McLuhan in a better light.

Actually, my first thought when understanding the hot and cold media theory was my main argument against this theory. That argument would be that every person who engages with media will engage and interpret it in a different way. Some may read the results of the 2020 US Presidential Election and just shrug their shoulders and move on, some may embark on a V for Vendetta-style terrorist attack on our own Capital, and yes, of course, there are about a million different reactions between those two. In the grand scheme of things, I believe McLuhan generalized the average media consumer of the time, which I believe to be one of his biggest mistakes.

Now, I do believe Marshall McLuhan meant well his hot and cold media ideology, he just executed it horribly. If he was alive today, I think we would revise his idea ten-fold. I understand what the man was trying to accomplish and show, and I believe with some tweaks and possibly more criteria, hot and cold media would be a heavily debated idea for generations to come.

Hello, my name is Johnny Malcom, and I’m the creator and author of this blog. I’m a Junior in the Oregon State GD Program, and I have a love (or an obsession) for art that can often get in the way of my daily life. I was born in Portland, Oregon but raised in the small town of Pendleton, Oregon.

I am of the belief that design should be timeless, simple, and relevant. What most people deem “boring” in today’s world is actually amazing in my eyes. The design should be needed, not forced. Rebrandings these days seem out of touch and make no sense (just look at the new General Motors logo, God help us). I often look to those of the past who did it best for motivation and inspiration, like the works of heroes like Saul Bass or Massimo Vignelli

People outside of the design world tend to disregard the past when it comes to a logo here or a typeface there, but I treasure it. That is why I’m so excited for my GD History class, it really is some nerd shit that is right up my alley.

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