Looking good in the LCS

A lot of graphic designers were busy over the past couple months due to teams in the LCS re-branding, renaming or rebuilding. In the NA and EU LCS there are 11 new “looks” going into the spring split with some unique styles to represent them. Of the 11 “new” teams it is safe to say that not all teams are created equal when it comes to style.

Here is a breakdown of the new looks and what I think of them:

Team: Team Liquid
Grade: A
Why: Simple, elegant, and good colors. What does a horse have to do with Liquid? It doesn’t, but it is a well-executed symbol or mascot. Not only is it one of the most recognizable logos in gaming history, but it has also never changed 15 years.
How to fix it: Doesn’t need anything changed.

Team: Winterfox
Grade: B-
Why: The minimalist look and muted color scheme are very slick. The logo has a very sleek and chill feel, but what hurts this re-branding (formerly Evil Geniuses) is… the team name is a little corny, but the explanation behind the team name is super corny. And I quote “combines our team’s youthful energy and familial nature with the cunning we hope to display on Summoner’s Rift.” So if they add an older veteran to the team they need to re-brand again to “The Grey”?
How to fix: The logo itself is one of the better ones, but the team name and concept needs some work.

Team: Unicorns of Love
Grade: B
Why: Let’s be honest here. There was a lot of potential for this team to have the worst “look” and representation for a professional esports team, but in the end, the unicorn logo comes off as strong and almost a little badass. The color is a little suspect, but with a name of Unicorns of Love, I expect a MS Paint Rainbow Unicorn.
How to fix: I personally don’t like the team name. It has been debated before on reddit about professionalism vs. having fun already… so I am going to leave it alone.

Team: Meet Your Makers 
Grade: C+
Why: I want to give this grade a D because of the angst-y teenage deviant art anime devil drawing that is the team’s mascot, but with a name like Meet your Makers (which I like), it is still a creative and original look. Can’t hate on originality.
How to Fix: Make the “demon dude” look a little less like a manga depiction of a gangly hot devil anti-hero. Make the dude a little more menacing. I demand wings and maybe flames. Maybe.

Team: H2k
Grade: C
Why: Safe. Nothing really good or to say about the name, color scheme, logo… Except it looks like a stick figure modeled around John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Can you see it now?
How to fix: Not sure. You can really do anything with H2k, but it really is boring. I guess it is easy to chant if you wanted to. Not sure why you would…

Team: Giants
Grade: C
Why: Again, safe and boring. Color scheme is nice, but generic. There is nothing to really talk about when it comes to the name and logo, it’s just there… Nothing bad about any of it.
How to fix: Try and take a stab at putting a giant into the logo. Commission an artist to make a badass giant for your logo and maybe move away from the black and blue color scheme.

Team: Team 8
Grade: C+
Why: Like most of the teams this split, the name is safe (say it 10 times fast), the logo is safe, but it has some nice edge to it. Color scheme is like all the others (blue, black, grey) but it stands out a little more with its overall shape.
How to fix: The name of the team is nothing to write home about. Let’s get creative here people and think outside of the box.

Team: Team Impulse
Grade: C+
Why: There are a few reasons why this grade is not higher. First, Team Impulse is not a very good name, certainly better than LMQ, but that is not saying much. Second, the LMQ logo was cool looking, it was simple and bold. The TiP is nice, but you can’t just have only the TiP.. Right guys?
How to fix: New name. Maybe, team Impact! And the logo can be a cool vector of an explosion and flames and death and impact.

Team: Coast
Grade: D
Why: Name is boring, logo is boring, same blue as every other team, but the presentation is just a little more boring than the rest of the pack joining the LCS this season. There is nothing more to add. Fin.
How to fix: Rebrand, maybe get some cool buzz words and throw some darts in the direction of management or the words on a dart board. Regardless, I wouldn’t want Coast merch or icon within 20 feet of me.

Team: Gravity
Grade: D-
Why: “Why?” is a good question and I hate to answer a question with a question, but indeed… Why? The name is not horrible, but it is lame. The logo… I want to like it. I really do and it has CLG potential to be good, but as it stands now it seems like two or three cool logos thrown into one.
How to Fix: Send a Russian missile towards it.

Team: Elements
Grade: F
Why: Good intentions were had, but its horrible. Simply horrible. I bet they (the team) where all sitting there and wrote it down and thought they had the greatest most clever and awesome idea for a team ever. Then it came to fruition and realized that this idea should have stayed on paper, because it is really bad.
How to fix it: Burn it with fire. The logo looks like a horrible public domain clip are vector Google images ripoff and the team name is corny. Start over, please.