Memphis Grizzlies Announce Plan for New Logo, Colors By Ronald Tillery
tillery@gomemphis.com This time next year, your Memphis Grizzlies gear will officially become collectors' items.
That's because the Grizzlies are changing their logo, team colors and uniforms to coincide with the 2004-05 season and a new downtown arena.
Team officials will unveil the new look in 2004, about three months before FedExForum opens in September that year.
"The right time for an identity change would be the first year in the new arena," said Mike Golub, Griz senior vice president of business operations. "We officially applied and submitted initial designs. Right now, we're going through revisions."
Only league approval and minor artistic changes remain before the process is complete. The Grizzlies submitted their new logo to the NBA on May 15. The league is putting the design through a trademark search.
Expect a radically different and contemporary logo.
And don't worry. The team's nickname will remain the same.
"We're definitely going to be the Grizzlies," Golub said. "But we wanted a logo that is fresh and distinctively Memphis. We think what we're coming out with is better, more contemporary, and more Memphis."
The Grizzlies had essentially maintained an image they brought with a 2001 move from Vancouver.
Golub would not elaborate on specifics about the logo nor the potential colors.
Although the team's look is not expected to change for the coming season, the Grizzlies have already de-emphasized and accentuated certain colors.
For example, teal is no longer prominent while the use of red increased last season. The Grizzlies' other colors are bronze and black.
"We think there are some parts of the logo we like that we may be able to continue," Golub said. "But it's going to be a cleaner, fresh look with likely new colors."
The Grizzlies relied on a competition among seven companies (five national and two local) to come up with a new logo. A Mississippi firm won the design bid.
Designs for the Grizzlies' new uniforms, court design and secondary logo should be finalized later this summer.
Although the Griz applied to the league for a logo upon their move to Memphis, news recently spread among fans that wanted to purchase Grizzlies state license plates.
Fans who ordered the specialty plates received refunds and a letter stating the project had been discontinued because of the logo change.
Golub acknowledged that the Grizzlies "had a long way to go to get to the 1,000" pledges needed for the state to produce Grizzlies plates. However, Golub claims the Grizzlies stopped the license plate drive because the club learned it could not change logos on the plates for 10 years.
"When any company redoes their logo you want every element where you're represented changed," Golub said. "We didn't want rolling billboards to be outdated. I think we'll be successful with the plate program once we truly attack it. . . . We're tracking well for a new logo and new look for the first year in the new arena."
Originally posted by MARTYEWRI'm surprised that, of all things, they kept the name, unless I'm missing something with Memphis' wildlife. How many grizzlies are in Memphis anyway?
I thought it would've been cool if the were the FedEx corporate team, the Memphis Express. It's too bad they didn't let them do that.
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Actually the corporate tie-in that would have been cool would have been the KFC one when it was possible they were leaving Vancouver for Louisville and they were going to call the team the Kentucky Colonols, but the NBA looked past the obivous nod to the ABA team of the same name and just saw the team having what they felt was a corporate team name.
Originally posted by MARTYEWRI'm surprised that, of all things, they kept the name, unless I'm missing something with Memphis' wildlife. How many grizzlies are in Memphis anyway?
Probably the same as the amount of Jazz clubs in Utah, or Lakes in Los Angeles :)
Originally posted by MARTYEWRI'm surprised that, of all things, they kept the name, unless I'm missing something with Memphis' wildlife. How many grizzlies are in Memphis anyway?
Probably the same as the amount of Jazz clubs in Utah, or Lakes in Los Angeles :)
For Los Angeles, you have an ocean beside you. Like a lake, it is a body of water.
As for Utah, there's very little choice. If you ditched the "Jazz", what would you call them? The Utah Mormons? The Utah Olympians? (No knock on anyone living in Utah, btw).
At least with Memphis, there's a number of options for nicknames.
...But the only problem with that is we've probably already used the nickname for a dead team already. (I still think that Memphis would have a NFL team if they hadn't decided on a team name of "Hound Dogs." Sheesh.)
What's the over/under on the new colors being orange and purple?
Originally posted by MARTYEWRI'm surprised that, of all things, they kept the name, unless I'm missing something with Memphis' wildlife. How many grizzlies are in Memphis anyway?
Probably the same as the amount of Jazz clubs in Utah, or Lakes in Los Angeles :)
Oh, if only Utah and New Orleans could trade mascots. (sigh)
DEAN's Nuggets of Wisdom:
"A-Train could wear a Vampirella outfit and I would toast a load to it."
Dammit, they oughta be called the Memphis Showboats. And make the new warm-ups look like something out of the Fat Vegas Elvis years...or at least Honky Tonk Man's unitard. :-)
Maybe DDP could drive 'em out to the court in a giant pink Cadillac...OK, I'll stop now.
(EDIT: I know, dude! Where do you think I got the idea?)
(edited by The Thrill on 14.5.04 1001) Star wipe, and...we're out. Thrillin' ain't easy.
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Originally posted by MARTYEWRI'm surprised that, of all things, they kept the name, unless I'm missing something with Memphis' wildlife. How many grizzlies are in Memphis anyway?
Probably the same as the amount of Jazz clubs in Utah, or Lakes in Los Angeles :)
Oh, if only Utah and New Orleans could trade mascots. (sigh)
I remember reading an article about 20 years ago saying LA and Utah should change names, since Utah Lakers is a natural and there's plenty of Jazz in Los Angeles.
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