Ever since the Wild first dropped the puck in 2000, I’ve always been confused about what exactly their logo is. What is a “Wild”? Maybe it has to do with the vast wilderness of Minnesota? That works, I guess. But then what is that weird animal represented in the logo? It looks like some sort of Wild Cat, or a Lynx, or something. What does that have to do with Minnesota? It’s just weird. I’ve always talked about how much I hated the logo, but now, with everyone else in the world rebranding their companies, why not give the Minnesota Wild a face lift?
I started brain storming, and figured out I wanted the logo to stay pretty similar. I didn’t want to change it so much that the casual person doesn’t know it’s Minnesota’s logo. I still wanted it to represent Minnesota, and still keep the “Wild” and wilderness theme. If you’re any kind of Wild fan, or even just a sports fan in general, you know the Minnesota Wild hockey team is very rich in hockey tradition and built around its fans and community.
That gave me a few options. Geese, birds, moose, deer, nope. I tried Bears but everything looked like the Boston Bruins. I was trying to avoid Wolves, because of the Timberwolves, but I decided if I did it right, it could work. Wolves are fitting, not only because they are spotted in Minnesota, but because of the rich Native American history Minnesota has. The wolf is a symbol of leadership, courage, and hope in the Native American community, mainly the Lakota Sioux who originally migrated from Northern Minnesota to North and South Dakota.
Click for full size version.
Now that looks a lot more bitchin’. I kept the same idea. The silhouette of an animals head, except I changed it to a much more vicious and threatening animal in the wolf. Also, like I said before, the wolf represents Minnesota much more than…. whatever that is. Next up were the jerseys.
Click for full size version.
First up was the home jersey. I wanted that “old school” look. Minnesota is about old time hockey. Our hockey was built in the north with the hard working, bloody knuckle type workers. Skating on the frozen lakes in below zero weather. We need old time hockey jerseys that represent that. We also need Minnesota right there on the chest, not some tiny “if you squint real hard you can see it“, Minnesota font like we currently have.
Click for full size version.
Next up was the road jersey. Traditionally, the road jersey is supposed to show who you are, where you’re from, and what you’re about. That’s why the state of Minnesota is placed on the upper right chest, for everyone to see who they are playing for. Then I felt we needed to put the new, “intimidating” logo dead center. Again, I threw in the old school flavor with the traditional stripe across the middle, a la the original 6.
Click for full size version.
Last, but not least, every team has the alternate jersey. The alternate jersey has always been the “futuristic” look of the franchise. We’ve seen a lot of ugly things from the alternates from other franchises (Vancouver….), but occasionally you get an alternate so cool, it eventually becomes a regular jersey (Rangers). I’ve always been a fan of putting the number on the front of the jersey. I also threw in a hint of the traditional look in the manuscript font spelling Minnesota. Perhaps a throwback to old Gopher jerseys. Then, the modern feel comes from the long, swooping line across the entire jersey. This is gaining popularity around the league, with a lot of teams doing this on their every night jerseys.
Conclusion
And there you have it. Not only would it bring Minnesota a much more traditional looking team, think of the sales numbers a rebrand would bring. We’ve already sold out every single home game since 2000, imagine if we had something new to be excited about. It would be almost as exciting if we put a few numbers in the Win column occasionally.
Tags: Design, Graphics, Ideas, Inspiration, Minnesota, Photoshop, Sports, Vector, Wild
January 24th, 2009 at 4:32 am
Haha when I went to the Coyotes vs Wild game here I was wondering the whole time what the hell is a Wild?
I like the rebranding. The logo especially. Your is much, much better. I vote they hire you for a rebranding effort.
February 4th, 2010 at 2:19 am
Glad to see that this site works well on my Blackberry Bold, everything I want to do is functional. Thanks for keeping it up to date with the latest.
June 2nd, 2010 at 11:48 am
No, sorry. Your wolf logo looks like an anatomical model of a wolf with a visible esophagus. It looks like what you’d see in a commercial for antacid.
The current logo has a double meaning. The animal/landscape design duality is along the same lines as the arrow in the FedEx logo. First you see one, then you see the other.
October 7th, 2010 at 1:39 am
First of all, the Wild logo happens to be one of the best in sports. People that don’t like the logo don’t understand it. Also if you don’t know what the meaning of Wild is, maybe you ought to go back to elementary school. And in your “wolf” you don’t have the North Star like there is the the eye of the bear. Again, because you don’t get it! Also the mouth represents Minnesota’s rivers! Better luck next time. It’s already the best, it doesn’t need to be fixed!
October 28th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Please remove my profile from this logo, you did not ask permission to use my likeness and I am not receiving any royalties for its use, furthermore I’m a coyote not a wolf.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:35 am
Was wondering if my broomball team could use your logo for our jerseys? It’s a good way to get it out there…
January 25th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
The best logo ever and Im a hawks fan.
Triple Gestalt. Gestalt is the sum of the parts being greater tuan the whole.
January 28th, 2011 at 6:46 pm
“. I am very thankful to this topic because it really gives great information ;,~
February 7th, 2011 at 11:10 am
You obviously know nothing and design, Minnesota and or hockey. You logic is littered with ignorance and your design is a sophomoric mess. The complexity resolved in the actual Mn Wild logo while keeping it relatively simple is excellent. You seriously can’t get a bear head out of the logo? I’m sure your rebuttal will be “Why not name them the Bears then?”, after which I’d punch you in the throat for being an idiot.
September 27th, 2011 at 3:31 am
Wow. Your design is absolutely terrible. I wasn’t high on the name “Wild” in 2000, but now it’s grown on. Why? Because a big part of what makes MN so special is its wilderness.
Your design loses everything that ties the team to the location: the north star, river, and the animal itself. Without those elements, your use of the colors and trees to fill the design makes no sense.
September 27th, 2011 at 3:35 am
You know what? You can delete my last comment (as well as this one. I may not like your design, but after got over my initial rage, I went back and reread your post. Turns out, like most of the people on here, I just skimmed it the first time because I didn’t like your designs. In the end, I don’t like the direction you go, but I can see that you’ve put a great deal of hard work and thought into the design. That I can respect. You may have missed the boat on a great logo, but I was being an asshole.
October 21st, 2011 at 9:29 am
You are never allowed to publish a design again. Otherwise I will remove your website
October 25th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
this aint bad but i love the original wild logo. it is downright amazing.
December 29th, 2011 at 1:49 am
stocks