If your stadium is underwritten by a corporation, you’ve probably noticed how hilariously tacked-on these sponsorships can feel. Let’s face it: dog food, orange juice and insurance don’t always mesh with baseball history. But these redesigned logos attempt to make the unholy union of ballparks and brands a little less jarring — and they do a damn good job.
Grant O’Dell, an Illinois design student, recently took it upon himself to redesign all 30 MLB stadium logos for fun. I got in touch with O’Dell to find out why, and what he thinks is missing from the present-day logos. He suggests that there’s a real disconnect between the stadium sponsors and city pride — his designs integrate them, as he explained:
I think what a lot of the current stadium logos (if that specific ball park even has one) are missing that sort of nostalgic touch. Most of the logos that I have seen of them are very corporate and sponsor focused. I wanted to have more fun than that and really play into the city, the team, or the stadium itself. I wanted each one to be unique to its city.
To his credit, corporate branding still plays a major role in almost all of the designs. But they do feel less visually discordant than the current approach — which tends to be just slapping whatever vector logo Petco or Minute Maid had lying around onto the stadium’s likeness and calling it a day. Check out all 30 of Grant’s logos below. [Imgur]