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Earthquakes reveal new crest, uniforms in honor of club anniversary

SanJoseEarthquakes2014Logo (SJEarthQuakes)

By DAN KARELL

In honor of their 40th anniversary, the San Jose Earthquakes have unveiled a new logo and uniforms for the 2014 Major League Soccer season.

In a presentation in downtown San Jose on Thursday, the Earthquakes displayed their new logo and jerseys for the upcoming season, featuring a classic looking shield crest with the words “Quakes” and “San Jose 1974.” The Earthquakes home jersey this year is an all-blue kit while the road uniform will be a red jersey, paying homage to the Earthquakes’ jerseys from the North American Soccer League days.

“Tonight we celebrated a momentous occasion for Earthquakes soccer here in San Jose by reunifying the club’s 40 years of history with the unveiling a new crest and club pillars,” Earthquakes president Dave Kaval wrote on the Earthquakes’ website. “We have been working toward this event for the past two years and we feel that we have established an identity that truly represents what we are all about – a club built on blue-collar work ethic and a full commitment to giving back to the community that it represents.

“From the start, this project was not about designing a logo, but rather a full examination of who we are. We spent over a year talking with fans, former players and community members and asking them what the Earthquakes meant to them. Through these conversations and a thorough review of the club’s history on and off the pitch starting in 1974, we identified three pillars that will serve as the foundation of this club moving forward. Unity. Devotion. Heritage.”

The new-look Earthquakes uniforms will also have the saying “never say die” printed in the collar as well as two stars above the crest to represent the MLS Cup titles the club won in 2001 and 2003.

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What do you think of the logo and uniforms? Like them? Think that the uniform is a little bland? What changes would you have made to the crest and uniform?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’ve had a few days to digest this. I think that this redesign was doomed from the start. The exercise seems to have begun with the misguided goal of “reunifying” a garrish hodgepodge of past logos; when the goal should have been to simply create an attractive and sophisticated logo that adults can wear in public.

    On that note, I can’t believe there is still a soccer ball in the logo! Who didn’t get the memo about no more soccer balls in the crest?!? WTF?

    The offset chevrons are fine for the fabric of a kit. But, if you are going to symbolize the force of an earthquake in a crest, there are better symbols that are instantly recognizable. For example, epicenter concentric circles crossed by a seismograph wave.

    Finally, this was an opportunity to “unify” the entire Bay Area around the team. Don’t try to convince me that the 3 sides of the crest accomplish that. This crest says nothing distinctive about the Bay Area at all. It does nothing to widen the net beyond San Jose.

    Portland went to back to the drawing board with their logo after a initial poor reception. I think the Quakes should consider doing the same.

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  2. The SJ front office hyped the S***t out of this logo and uniform like it was going to blow our minds, which allows for only one logical conclusion. They are dorks.

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  3. This was a chance to re-brand. That opportunity comes along once in a decade. Swing for the fences.

    On a scale of 1-10 this is barely a 6. Same thing with SKC. They did a good job re-branding, but it is a bad crest. Hopefully the Quakes can at least emulate SKC’s success with everything else.

    On that note US Soccer needs to keep the centennial crest. This seems like a no-brainer, which is exactly why it wont happen…

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  4. It’s fine. not amazing, but fine. I would have preferred the three cities be represented in the uni, not the badge–something loud but unique. In the end, if the team is good, the fans will embrace it. If its not, then it matters. Everyone hated the RSL name and colors as a ripoff. But they are good and so their fans have embraed it. Rave Green? Not so pretty but the product has been good and now the city is awash with the color. Sporting KC? Another Euro ripoff and no one in KC cares now. LA Galaxy? Boring logo, Euro ripoff and no one cares. If the team is good then this will be embraced by the fans of SJ. Everyone else is irrelevant…

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  5. If you can barely read the “San Jose” and whatever the date in red is after it in an online image, how is it going to read when it’s stitched on a patch? Hint: not good.

    Why the outdated 80’s font?

    This is really an amateurish solution. It sucks for a league that’s trying to grow itself professionally, but it’s funny because it’s the Quakes — the Gomer Pyle of MLS.

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  6. The last logo came with free orange slices. This one comes with free mall security. And for effs sake, dicth the ball already! We know its a soccer team…

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  7. Did whoever designed that thing even look at a soccer ball? Pro-tip: it’s ROUND. At a glance, it may appear to consist of flat, evenly shaded panels with perfectly straight sides, but I assure you it’s actually round, which is why it’s called a “ball.”

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    • after i got past the mediocre type and other quirky details

      my next thought was: why ditch the awesome shade of blue they’ve been using for the past few years?

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  8. I dont hate it but I think there needs to be more white or blue in the badge. There is just too much black because of the internal shading. They could of done half black and half another color. The jerseys make up for it.

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    • My sentimenta exactly. The promo material looked so promising too. White amd blue chevrons with a single red chevron mixed in… That would be a modern take on a classic design. Instead they put the chevron pattern sideways and used black and blue. Weak sauce.

      The long sleeve home uniform is decent but nothingto brag about.

      Quakes dropped the ball on this and as a Quakes fam, Im very dissappointed.

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  9. Oh my soccer god, poor Quakes fans. First a terrible stadium and a half ass owner and this team has no future, given how the league is turning things around.
    Another opinion, if you plan to change the team name, might as well do what Kansas City did and it’s way more worth the risk.
    It’s like kansas going for the Kansas City wiz 🙂 or Houston dynamo going for Houston Dyna.
    But seriously San Jose front office, this is not the way to start a new era. Terrible logo and the name is so bad too. They should have gone San Jose Bay Area fc and a real soccer logo, not high schoolish or AYSO.
    Hopefully crew, revolution, DC, Miami, nycfc, will do better when they redo their crest, even Houston’s dynamo logo as well. I

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  10. There is a movie on their site that explains all of the decisions made and why the things that are on the crest made it there in the first place.

    I’m not a graphical artist or an artist but I do have some concept of composition. Speak of the imbalance in the design and all but when you see their mini-movie that explains their decisions, couple that with their history you get a better understanding of what they are going for with the new crest. I think it works and it all makes sense.

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  11. Shield: Not too bad overall, but I wouldn’t say it was an upgrade. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t understand the black and blue interlocking semi-diagonal stripes….seems…..forced. If you’re going to do stripes, choose vertical or horizontal and commit. This then translates to your kit – making you and your crest recognizable.

    If they really wanted to rebrand – with the soccer ball still being the focal point, I think a Circle with a Q and a soccer ball in the middle of the Q would have been very unique. White lettering with a blue outlined circle with black on the interior background (and if you wanted then throw in the stripes for fun) would have been awesome.

    Kit: Away – nice homage. Home – adequate, but again not an upgrade – just a lateral move really. Both things I’d change on both jerseys – the strange shadow interlocking semi-diagonal stripes. Doesn’t make any sense.

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      • Just read their shield explanation and that’s exactly what they say it represents. I dunno, it still seems forced. Like they thought their shield/ kit was going to be pretty boring and they needed an “accent” so some wiz kid went…hey….quakes….hmmm…..they’re caused by shifts in the plate tectonics…how do I represent….oh I know….BOOM.

      • Speaking of forced, I like the explanation for the three sides of the shield representing the major cities that make up the bay area. Like every team in MLS that has a crest has an explanation why they’re using a crest? It’s a crest, every MLS team uses them. That is a bit of a stretch.

  12. Brutal . . . what is with putting an actual soccer ball in the club logo? Are there hockey pucks on the Boston Bruins, a football on the SF 49ers? Nevermind the class of Euro badges

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    • While I’m not a fan of its use here, you do know that many of the world’s most famous clubs have soccer balls on their crests, right? Granted, in all these examples, it’s the ancient volleyball-looking soccer ball, but it’s a soccer ball nonetheless.

      Barça, Valencia, Porto, Benfica, Man U, Tottenham, Chelsea, Club America…the list goes on…

      While i would agree that their style of soccer ball looks better than this one, it would seem ridiculously poser-ish to put that on an MLS crest, because when did any of these teams play with a ball that looked like that?

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      • + 1

        Plus if any of those teams you mentioned started play with the…what – 32 panel ball? – then guess what kind of ball would be on their crests today?

        I don’t see the issue here at all. Your crest, if you are going for history and not just trends or mimicry, should represent the aspects of the times you live in. These guys are paying homage to a team that started 40 years ago that played with the old school soccer ball.

      • Right, and it looks terrible. Great to cite multiple Euro clubs that use the “old school volleyball type ball in their badges”, I was not referencing them, and as you stated it’s completely different and looks more vintage and better.

        The ball looks terrible, regardless of its merit as authentic to an era. Is there no other way to pay tribute to an era other than showing us a picture of the actual ball they used? It’s pedantic, tons of dead space in the lower left, and a major fail.

      • Oh, I was just making the case for the club’s decisions, is all. Never intended to fight a battle over what works for you.

        I think it works and is no where near this…major fail, you speak of.

      • ah, whatevs, some people will never be happy, it’s one vision for all…. dammit!. so you reference non soccer sports?!? what does hockey or niners have anything to do with a mls team? by the way the ny islanders have a puck & stick in their logo, also the sj sharks have the sticks in the sharks mouth… quit being a debbie downer.

      • Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA have a logo that must have been designed by the guy that made the original Earthquakes logo… on the same old Tandy computer with a copy of Printmaster II.

      • how about the 1970’s, you know when professional soccer was first established in our town?

        I don’t mind the new crest, and the faulted chevrons are pretty damned clever. it will undoubtedly grow on me and many others.

        you homers out there trying to critcize the fact that professional soccer in San Jose hasnt been continous the last four decades are missing the damn point. its about our community, the fans, and the heritage of soccer in our town. many of our former players still live around here and are involved with the club or youth academies. Johnny Moore and Troy Dayak spoke about their most memorable moments as a Quakes and we loved it. So, save your petty backbiting, it only makes you look childish and naive.

    • If you bothered to do a little research on the crest you’d quickly find out that a soccer ball has been on all the San Jose crests, so they kept in their as a nod to the past.

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  13. Love it!

    I like the little movie that they made with it and how it all tied into every aspect of what is in the new logo and why it’s there. There is a lot of history in that thing and it is really cool because it speaks to an organization that knows itself and what it’s about. That was inspiring, fun to watch and the logo is very nice.

    Good job Quakes, and I love that “Never Say Die” song too, new chant me thinks?

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  14. Overall, it looks pretty good, but something about the ball seems…off. I think it would look better with a more abstract ball. Since the rest of the crest is unshaded and static, it seems strange to have a 3-demensional ball that doesn’t mesh with the overall design style. I know it’s not the best reference, but something in the same vein as the ball on the RSL crest, maybe?

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    • MLS 2.0 – logos with out soccer balls. Despite the new stadium and the fact that they WANT to rebrand, this logo is still MLS 1.0.
      This is definitely a step back. I get the throw-back 40th anniversary aspect, but really – how many professional sport logos out there have the ball/puck/instrument of play included?

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      • The previous crest also had a ball in it. So how is this a step back? A “side step”? Maybe. But let’s keep things in perspective. NOBODY will argue that this is a worse crest than the previous one. So “definitely” a step back? Let’s not get hyperbolic now…

  15. Also, thank God they didn’t rebrand to an FC. If I have to see one more team name with FC at the end of it I’m going to have a mental break down. It’s not even called football here. At least call it SC, that makes more sense, soccer, it’s what it’s called here folks.

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  16. I like the look and I like the fact that they’re tying it in to local history going back to the 70s. Still blue & black, though.

    Nice

    People don’t really seem to give them any crap about citing a 40 year history. Seattle and Portland too. Yet so many of us are quick to jump on the Cosmos for doing the same.

    Is it the titles?
    Is it their attitude?
    What’s up?

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    • i would guess it’s because more people care about new york than about san jose, seattle, or portland.

      i actually like that seattle fans claim their history because then i can make fun of them for taking almost 40 years to win anything of note. 🙂

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      • It’s stupid to claim any heritage from a previous team with only very tedious links. It’s like you’re just saying “hey, MLS has no history of its own so we will steal others.”

        I mean, if the Revolution renamed themselves Oneida would we celebrate their 152 year legacy?

      • We’re not claiming heritage from another team. We’re claiming the heritage of soccer in San Jose. This is about San Jose soccer history more than it is about EQ history.

      • It’s a better crest than the previous one. So quit complaining. I don’t understand what is wrong with you people. Jeez.

        I wonder how this will affect the rest of your day, week, month, year, or life. It won’t. So settle down and just keep it moving.

        So much hate…

      • Warning: this post is obnoxious… but

        Tedious links? It’s like you are saying there are links, but they are tiresome and boring.

        Perhaps you meant to say tenuous?

    • The logo is bland and uninspiring. This too will be re-done.

      The attempt to dress this up in “history” is annoying. There was a NASL team for 14 years that went kaput in 1988. The next attempt begun in 1996 was called the CLASH, then changed to Earthquakes in 1999, then moved to Houston in 2006. Then a new team was created in 2008.

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      • I was married for fourteen years. My marriage collapsed. Four years later I married someone else. Then I had her change her name to that of my first wife. She left town. So I married for a third time, this time to someone with the same name as my first wife. We’ve been married five years but we are celebrating our 40th anniversary because I have so many fond memories of my first wife. My friends in Seattle and Portland have done similar things and everyone loves it!

      • Hmmmm… By that logic, I suppose someone should let Coca-Cola know they really screwed up in 2011 by celebrating 125 years. I mean, technically this version of the “product on the field” is what, 5 years old? Since 1985, they have changed the formula twice (pretty fundamental for soda, no?), renamed three times, the third of which harkens back to the long history of the company by using the original name.

        There’s nothing wrong with San Jose celebrating 40 years (or Portland or Seattle or New York). this stuff happens all the time. Stop.

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