The Simplification of NFL Team Logos
Television and Graphic Design
in the 1950s and 1960
Abstract
This study analyzes National Football League team logos and the
way they have changed. Focusing on the relationship between
television and logo design, it explores the influence o f the medium on
design, beginning in the 1950s, as influences in graphic design
during this time apparently caused changes in logo design. This
paper argues that the technical requirements o f television and
changes in aesthetic philosophy in the field o f graphic design
contributed to the makeover o f football team logos during this era,
with visual data corroborating our assumptions.
Personal and group identification with the symbolic byproducts of society
can be seen in the spheres of religion, business, in families and communities,
and in professional sports. These symbols, such as a cross, a trademark, a coat of
arms, or a flag, vary in shape, color, style, and function. They are imbued with
attractive forces and emotions tied to team identification and loyalty, sometimes
to an extreme degree as illustrated by the lead from a 2006 Associated Press
story: “Major League Baseball has a marketing deal with a company called
Eternal Image. It’ll put team logos on caskets and urns.. . . Each urn will be
stamped with a message saying Major League Baseball officially recognizes the
deceased as a lifelong fan of that team” (AP, 2006). Thus, team loyalty
expressed through the symbolic representation of logos is a powerful experience
for fans, even into the afterlife.
The purpose of this study is to examine the graphic aspects of National
Football League team logos during the period just before and after television
inundated the consumer market in the 1950s, becoming a dominant form for
broadcasting professional sporting events. Focusing on the concept of
simplification, we argue that a transformation in team logos took place due
primarily to two factors: 1) The technical requirements of television; and 2) the
stylistic changes in the field of graphic design. Visual evidence is used to
support these assumptions.
The trend toward simplicity in logo design took place during a well-defined
timeframe associated with television’s infusion into American society: the mid1950s through the 1960s. Also during this time, the graphic design field was
transforming in ways that might also contribute to the changes in professional
football logo design we consider here. Did television change football team