Two Steps Back, One Step Forward

Should we actually go with any of them (from the club's crest designs) I can see my self imposed ban on any buying merchandise lasting a lot longer than one season, be it ten years or whatever.

Personally, I think there have to be two laurel wreaths. It's the two eyes and the tower is the nose of the 'Everton Owl' mentioned by quite a few. It's been around for 75 years, it's Everton - to me anyway.

I even toyed with a design using 9 wreaths in a circle to signify 9 championships, but it just didnt feel right to me. Similarly only having one wreath does not seem quite right.

I'm not bored with this shit, to quote another post, but I do get the feeling we could do this for months and get nowhere fast.

David Pearl, 'move on' to WHAT exactly?

You want to move on, fucking move on (and nobody gives a shite what you're bored with - if you're bored, go to another thread or do something else ffs)

Seriously, is there a more meaningless and trite expression in use today than 'move on'?

It's like a child trying to control things - "I don't like this subject, why can't everyone talk about what I want to?"

I too miss the Owl and that represents my Everton badge. Of course my views are most important... pity I can't remove those who disagree really, isn't it.

It almost seems like the designers took an attitude similar to David Pearl #301 when it came to these creations.

A is the best in my opinion but I agree with Lyndon that (assuming we won't suddenly be offered a new batch of 6 to choose from) this one should still be worked on and improved in certain areas.

It currently doesn't look so good when placed on the shirt (I believe C actually looks best in that context), but I can't say I am opposed to it overall - when all said and done it isn't a million miles away from the 00-12 version.

I think that true to the club's recent history, when faced with an opportunity to take a leap forward, we have opted for the safety first approach with the result being that we just stand still.

It has a certain class and..um.. style and elegance.

Come to think of it, it's exactly those elements that are missing from the three designs the club have given us.

I think the issue was your insulting attitude rather than any sort of disagreement for which you as anti-hero can come on here and whinge about censorship or whatever. You are not some sort of victim as you say but someone who sent a silly insulting post.

Thanks for a top-notch creative post I only wish that you had some influence in EFC's commercial/marketing/fan-relations branch. If only!

Love the badge on the right and Eugene mate I'm 100 per cent on board with you on the 'move-on-movement'; wasn't there a recent political gang - in the US? The ant-Wall Street folks God bless 'em - called 'move on' or had it as their slogan - ?

This is a culture not a relationship and anything ginger spouts today about the time before June-1 2013 ought to be of relevance for each and every blessed blue.

Had the designers not been restricted to a shield, they might have come up with a variety of designs, à la Crystal Palace. In fact, some of the best fan-designed crests, in my opinion, were ones that dispensed with traditional shield and disc forms.

I like it. There's not one thing I could fault, no matter how hard I try.

Nil satis indeed.

The laurels on the TW logo look much better.

And on the subject of vote. The Club were touting a number of 300,000 as the number of supporters eligible to vote in their all inclusive poll, but only 20,000 actually bothered to respond to the questionnaire and of them there are probably many like myself that will not be able to vote for real.

A case of the 'silent majority' liking the current logo?

If you're not arsed, don't read the article and certainly don't bother to comment on something that some of us are deeply interested in.

Personally, I love the badge on the wall along the Bullens Road. It show a reverse bit of scroll at the top of the crest with Everton Football Club above the tower. It looks like what the Club is all about to me. An original member of the football league, traditional and has Style. That's my favourite of all time and if I could get it printed somewhere, in silver, it'd do for me.

I like your centre most and if we are going to have a badge that reresents the club, then that would be my choice. Each one of these badges are good enough to be Everton's window to the world and put the club's effprts in the shade.

I also don't see why (they may do it, I just don't know) why the club doesn't also have a badge with EFC intertwined for fans to choose if they want, or Ruperts tower along with the two small laurel leaves, then we could have a bit of a choice but I suppose printing costs will come into it.

I certainly wouldn't mind buying kit with one of these badges on but I can't see myself rushing out for one of the "official" crests.

Top notch post and the club look like they will have botched up...again.

Agree with all the comments regarding the "move on" post. Big difference between expressing an opinion and telling everyone else not to voice theirs.

Seriously this design (not the yellow tinted one, the middle blue one) MUST be sent to the club with the backing of the 1000s of fans who WILL vote for it.
TW, you are in a strategic position to organise this design-push : "People's Club", "Just Do It" and all that.

I for one am far from bored of this given the bearing it has on our identity (and as my Old Man would say – only boring people get bored, eh….).

In all of this I think the goal of the exercise should / will have been to bring the crest into the modern era (compatibility etc), and in doing so also improve it.

Has it done either?

The original re-design failed because it tried to make wholesale changes all at once (a bit like our team selection last night….) to something steeped in our “DNA”.

The Tower was changed dramatically, the motto and wreaths were removed altogether, and the colours changed. No wonder it was rejected.

The club reversed at a rate of knots and I applaud them for the way they responded but for me the process was floored from the start.

Which Tower do you like (in isolation). Most people say traditional one that’s been cleaned up a bit, so that’s what we’ve got.

Which template do you want (in isolation). Most people say traditional shield – so that’s what we’ve got.

Which of the four components are most important to you? All four obviously got very high marks, with the wreaths coming last so that’s dropped from one of the designs.

So – in isolation, we have been given what we’ve asked for.

The issue is these components don’t go together in isolation – they got together as one, which is why the crests put forward look like a dogs dinner compared to the many of the fans efforts which have been designed as a crest which they feel represents our club and looks great, within itself.

In isolation I voted the “new tower” in last and also the word “Everton” as a component. I was also very vocal about retaining the motto.

Step up Robbie Muldoon’s colleagues effort, which incorporates a version of the new tower, has Everton in it and no motto.

So – based on how I answered the questionnaire I should hate it, but in reality I like it so much so I emailed it to the club promoting it.

Why? Because it works. It looks right. It’s got enough in it to represent and symbolise us, I’m certain fits in with the technical issues the club were trying to solve and looks both modern and traditional at the same time.

My view is if you follow your head, and not your heart too much on things like this you rarely get right result. My head says we need the motto – but I like the “Muldoon Crest” immensely and it’s not got it on.

On paper all of the three designs above should largely fit in with what we want – after all its what we’ve said we want, isn’t it? But it isn’t.

It’s my wedding anniversary today. If my missus said pick a three course meal for tea tonight, as it’s special, I’d say something like crispy duck pancakes / steak and chips / vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

On their own they’re all great - but if she dished them all up together on the same plate it would be, well, pretty rank, wouldn’t it.

And I think that’s what we’ve got here – it is, after all, exactly what we asked for, isn’t it? But none of us really like it.

Now, how’s that for boring!

Onwards and upwards.

:D

As it was a personal response to a personal email I'm not sure it would be right for me to put it up on a public forum here but essentially, without commenting on your crest, he ruled out the possibibility of a fans design.

As you know, your offering, for me is easily the best and the point I made to Alan in reply was that if its right, its right, regardless of who designed it.

I'm not bowled over by any of the three official choices, but I would not be upset if we got A.

Robbie #395... actually no. No I'd not like that because it has the bulbous shield and fat tower.

It will be too much to hope for that the Kenyon Fraser designs are just draft layouts that will be touched up in due course won't it?

People have got to look past what it is they actually like about the badges, because the elephant in the room here is how badly run the commercial side of the club is.

I was impressed with the consultation process up until the unveiling of the short-list of 3. There did seem undue haste (for reasons suggested above) between the end of the consultation phase and the release of the 3 options. I would have thought that several weeks would have been required to fully craft ideas that present the historic elements, that we wish to retain, in a fresh way. The 3 designs lack the "polish" and imagination needed - for example the lettering and the wreaths do not appear to be bold enough.

I suspect Option A will be chosen although I feel that, with tweaks, Option C would be more progressive.

Personally I think it's horrendous but as I say I'm not quite sure how it's come about.

Nice article Lyndon, although I cannot see the club deviating from the 3 on offer. Personally, if given the choice, I would have figured out a way to add "Everton' to the previous crest and be done with - am pretty sure hardly any fan would have had an issue with that and the club could have saved themselves a load of hassle - and money!

Whats a bit of common sense eh?

I can’t accept that it is just a badge and I should stop moaning and get a life. I’ve got a life, I want a badge to be proud of. We can have both.

I personally would accept a completely unique design that relinquishes all of the old relics I.e tower, wreaths, nsno etc as long as it was modern and stylish. This might be an unpopular view but it is mine none the less.

The design in the piece above is superb, would be over the moon with it, but bit gutted that the club will go with almost certainly option A – not awful, but not a patch on Robbie's or Lyndon's. Can't help but think theirs are so much better because they're done with care and thought by people who genuinely love the club.

Lyndon, please forward the club your design and tell them it has strong backing on here.......for all the good it'll do!!!!!!

[IMG]http://i42.tinypic.com/xd82l1.jpg[/IMG]

I also think we suffer from our main emblem: "The tower". If you have actually seen it, it is not much of a tower. It is a short fat stubby ex-drunk tank and sheep pen.

Other clubs have lions, tigers, eagles, devils, cannons etc. All symbols of power and strength.

I also have a problem with the wreaths. They are a sign of success and victory. We have not won anything in years.

Just to complete the hat-trick, I don’t like Latin mottos either. It smacks of a club stuck in the past. English is a rich enough language. We don’t need Latin.

I would like to see a fresh approach with fresh modern ideas that symbolise a new Everton. We have done it before. Why not again? I know some of you may be choking on your beer reading this, but is it that wild of an idea?

I am not a traditionalist and I am not a fan of using history to support an argument about football.

Just a simple re-work of the old one. Top marks!

"Underwhelmed" pretty much summarises my and seemingly most fans' reaction to the club's designs, and rightly so.

Without being rude to the designers, cos it's not really their fault, all three graphics come across as rushed, timid, and reek of design by committee.

Option A is clearly aimed at the traditionalists, but they seem to have taken the idea too literally and essentially given us a kind of heritage plaque. Option B is another plaque reworked from the beehive.
(Hate to say it, both give me a nightmare vision of a future derelict Goodison adorned with - "Everton (1878 - 2018) Played Here"). There is little consistency in the styling - the same tower appears on all three badges so it must've been designed in isolation to the rest of the graphics, and you can tell because it doesn't really work with any of them. Or with the wreaths. And what's is going on at the bottom of shield C. It has two points. What for? Why all the different fonts? Like the beehive these just aren't final, finished designs.

Which brings me onto the question - who gave the designers only 7 days? Why?? 7 days to not just interpret all the fan feedback, but to design three new crests to production standard as well? "Oh and by the way if you get this wrong you'll be vilified by the entire Evertonian fanbase". They must've been shitting bricks and for me it comes across in the finished product.

It's no surprise some of the fans designs are better because they're not working under the same pressure. I worked on mine over weeks and whether you like it or not, I know I can justify every decision I made, every line was carefully considered - because anything less just isn't good enough. Because the motto doesn't say "that'll do".

The club have missed a trick by not making this an open competition because they've excluded designers who are both genuinely bothered and also free of the constraints the professionals are working under. If the club have been so patronising to assume there isn't a shred of design talent amongst it's several hundred thousand strong fanbase, then at least invite a number of design agencies, preferably with a track record in football branding, to pitch ideas rather than just the one.

Still many unanswered questions on this issue for me.

Regarding the badge... I never even liked the old version to tell you the truth. Unfortunately the club have minimized our input once again with the limited choice on offer. Just frustration. However, I'd like us to make our pick (probably A... C would do) and then move forward and concentrate on what matters most. What matters most to me is to start being more competitive within the league... which seems impossible given our ownership and current stadium (as much as I don't want to let it go). Keep up the good work!

Richard (563), we could do a poll with all the options (including my reworking, the 2000-2012 version, the current badge, etc) but it all seems a bit redundant at this point. Even though the fine print says that they reserve the right to, from a PR and face-saving point of view, the club simply couldn't turn around and ditch the vote or renege on the results in favour of another option. I'd have no problem if they did to ensure the right crest but I can't see it happening.

As David says, we'll kick on with crest A most likely and get back to concentrating fully on what's going on on the pitch.

Chang has also got bigger over the years. See http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Everton/Everton.htm Hope it doesn't keep expanding. Although, I must say, it's quite a cool sponsor name and logo.

I for one am going to contact the club directly and urge them to look at the designs above and read the comments from real fans and see how much it means to us that this is done right. As someone has already said on here, the club needs to realise that it doesn't matter who designs the right feeling badge, what's right is right.

I can't believe the club has said they will not go with a design from a fan – why the hell not if it's good enough? Typical closed mentality.

I'd urge anyone who feels strongly enough about it to do the same, contact them and let them know rather than sit and bleat. Up the toffees.......

I like your ideas but with one caveat – the nil satis ribbon needs a more modern look. In other words, the shield is brilliant but the ribbon isn't right. Any chance you could sort of re-jig the ribbon and give it a more contemporary feel? In that way it would satisfy the 'easily reproduced across media' criterion.

Great work, and especially the white one. Top notch, my friend.

You and Joseph have you own ways of looking at things, as do we all

As for your being in a minority, I feel it's a perfect example of the mantra "Those who do..."

But that's just my view

I just can't see what the club are offering as (A) will be around for too long (a season, maybe two). The fans will vote for a change before too long as we'll always be reminded of what we had before, and what we had before was almost perfect.

Just because they offered up 3 crap designs more than we did doesn't make them better than us, in fact, 3 lots of crap is bad, 6 lots of crap is twice as bad.

It brings to mind the adage, ''If It Ain't Broke, Don't fix It''...

I never heard anyone complain about it... 'Progress'???

It's clearly in 3 of the 6 designs, just as much as it was in their old badge and there's a nod to it in the other three, abeit a very vague one particularly in B but it's referenced in them all.

Unlike us their old badge needed reworking simply because it was rank.

Although this may not be as important don’t let us forget the Kings dock and Kirkby fiascos.

Open on soft-focus, slow-mo footage of a grinning Luvvie handing out vol-au-vents on a match day while we hear his voice.

"People see me smiling all the time but I've had this burning passion inside me since I was a kid and to be honest, I thought the chance had passed me by"

We then cut to him looking longingly at a portrait of Dave Hickson.

"But I was once told never to give up on your dreams and now I'm so close I can almost feel it"

Cut to quiet moment in his office, we see him in a moment of reflection..whilst at the same time fiddling his expenses.

"And tonight I have the chance to show everyone just how much it means to me to fuck up a crest"

We go back 'live' to Simon and the panel

Simon Cowell: "So what's it going to be?"

Luvvie: "Well....I....(sniff)..well...erm..(sniff) the thing is.."

He suddenly bursts into tears.

Sharon and the other bird do that 'pained-heart' gesture and he is immediately put through to the next stage.

A year later our crest is the badge-version of that fat Scottish one who won X-factor a few years back and was never seen again (apart from in Greggs).

http://postimg.org/image/ps0oqtt37/

Have a look at these. They are not my work but after a quick search around google this is what I found. Although I have more radical views on the badge these blow the three abominations out of the water.

Can anyone tell me how to submit an image? Ta.

https://twitter.com/banterfootyLAD/status/382817980544868352/photo/1

If it's one person they would choose their favourites, not ours.

If it is a committee they will follow the strongest person(s) on the committee and pick their favourites....and so on.

What you will never get is the fans favourite. If the agency are like any that I have dealt with three separate teams will each have designed a crest based on the results of the consultation and that is what we are voting on, it is the only way that doesn't include somebody picking their favourite to give to us

In my day, the pitch would've been covered in cushions on a regular basis!