Salem-Keizer Volcanoes

44

Normally, I like highly abstract logos. This is an exception to that rule, and I'm really not sure why. Something about the shape of the triangle with two convex sides and one concave side, perhaps? The strange S/lightning bolt that becomes (orange) smoke? The odd letters in the word "Volcanoes", with some letters leaning to the right and others to the left? Or maybe it's nothing more than the fact that I hate the color orange, particularly when paired with the color grey.

More likely, it's some combination of these things. But whatever it is, this logo just doesn't do it for me.

The name isn't so bad — at least, not the nickname. The name "Volcanoes" works. If you live anywhere near a volcano you're either scared of it or an idiot, and there are volcanoes in the area. It's a good name. On the other hand, "Salem-Keizer" is one of those names that can only be devised by some marketing dweeb who's worried about offending either the people in the nearby big city (thus the inclusion of "Salem") or the city where the town actually plays (thus the inclusion of "Keizer") if both aren't mentioned. For the record, I've never heard anyone here in Raleigh say that they would gladly go to Bulls games if only the team would change their name to the Raleigh-Durham Bulls. And somehow the Giants and Jets still manage to sell tickets to fans who live in New Jersey. But someone in Salem — or was it someone in Keizer? — clearly felt that might not be the case here.

In fairness, I should note the distinct possibility that the team didn't put a lot of effort into picking a winning logo because they were putting that effort into a winning team. The team is in its sixteenth season, and the Northwest League has eight teams. All things being equal, you would expect them to have won two league titles. They've won five, and the longest drought has been four seasons (2002-2005). I have to give them credit on that point. On the other hand, this is a site for talking about logos, not for talking about how well the teams actually play. So while the managers and players deserve kudos, the logo designer needs to go back to the drawing board (literally) and come up with something better. I can't say precisely what he needs to do, since (as I said earlier) I can't quite figure out what is wrong with this logo. But there is definitely something wrong with it.

Final Score: 44 points.
Penalties: Region, 8 pts; Letter, 24 pts; Logo, 12 pts.
Bonuses: None.