The Washington Commanders brand. What you like, what you don’t like, and suggestions to improve what we have.

[burgold]

I'm going to be the curmudgeon here. I loath the black uniforms. They have nothing to do with the team history at all. No where close. I know, the kiddies like them, but it's about as far away from the Skins as you can get. I can't stand the bastardized fight song. Either save it for when the name Redskins comes back or commit it to history. The new uniforms? Eh. Seems they have a different color variation for every game. Speaking of colors, go back to the burgundy. That new blood red, eh. The W looks OK but the name, eh. I suspect the NFL and their current state of thinking is probably actively working behind the scenes to keep the name Redskins from ever seeing the light of day again. There, I said it

I agree. I'm not a fan of it either. I mean the name I chose tells you how I feel about the team colors, but I will say I think black could go with the name Commanders. I feel like that's the "special ops" Commandos uniform. Then again, that's me trying to make peace with it.

But yeah, get rid of the black.

 

[HurQlez]

I still believe that black should be our tertiary color. At least not plain black.
Notice how many teams use Black as a team? Having a SLIGHT different in pantone does not make the black unique.

That is why our black needs to be a unique black. We can use plain black in camo patterns. But I think if we want Commanders to work, it should have more original additions.
My tone of black is what happens when you put '32 three times in the color hex code.
I call it "Camoflague Black"

And I think this black fits well with the burgundy and gold.

 

[burgold]

I think they were going for a stylized version of colonial script, kinda like this:

View attachment 9794

Okay, I would kind of love seeing the Declaration written in a diagonal font all across the helmet.

Again, this would have nothing to do with Commanders, but it'd be pretty damn cool.

 

[Hailer]

Agreed the Raise Hail creative looks great. The W is, if nothing else, clean. There are definitely bits and pieces of brand elements the team have put out that look nice, that aren't universally panned (cough, cough.. road white unis). But the underlying issue that all fan gripes converge on is the lack of a cohesive identity across all the Commanders brand stuff. Boone hit the nail on the head..

This 'brand' is so confusing, quasi-military, quasi-Redskins lineage, quasi-medieval, they have no idea what the name means, lol...

I won't quite go so far as HurQlez and say fans can't latch onto the Commanders brand absent a near literal representation of whatever that is. For one, I don't think fans make strong associations of real-world things with a football team - no one see a bear and thinks "there goes a Chicago Bear!" People think football team and local markets when they think of these football brands. What did you think about when you heard Redskins in the last 30 years? I seriously doubt it was Native American people.

That said, the whole point of a cohesive brand identity is to create a connection with the fans. A good brand is simply one you remember fondly. Today, the brand does feel like it's stabbing at being multiple things, which means it's nothing at all. Unless the biz folks figure out how to settle on an identity of some kind (military leader seems to be most workable theme), asking fans to connect with the brand will remain an uphill battle.

I have higher expectations of fans than I think HurQlez does in so far that I think we can lean into a military leader theme without being so literal with it. Don't need army helmets, gun holsters, and dog tags plastered all over our stuff - I would argue just some . I would want to lean into military only as far as we have to because the brand that people remember and love is Redskins. I can probably count on my hand the # of fans that are pure Commanders fans and have no affinity to Redskins. I think trying to cut ourselves off from Redskins entirely is a non-starter. Again, we could probably establish a new Commanders identity more efficiently by doing just that (going all military, dropping burgundy & gold colors, no more Hail this or that, no fight song, etc..) but I think we can all agree that is a terrible idea.

I think this is just a long-winded way of saying I'm not a fan of making dog tags THE logo or intentionally distancing ourselves from Redskins stuff. I believe that it is both possible and essential to thread the needle on establishing a military identity that makes the Commanders brand more recognizable without deleting the Redskins brand outright.

Am I proposing something easy? Hell no - but if the ownership group cares about the fans, they will do their damndest to make it happen. And HurQlez, thank you for your work - I'm not trying to denigrate that at all! Just disagree with some things philosophically.

 

[Single-Bar Facemask]

Honestly I should have kept the uniform tweak designs to myself.

All of these posts talking about how the dog tag doesn’t work just sounds like nobody wants to make the name Commanders work on its own.

My expand the brand campaign would not replace the W on the helmet, it would be an addition to the brand. It is a visual identity that fits what a Commanders is and the potential of what it could bring in the future.

If the name isn’t going anywhere, then we need to admit there will be Commanders-only logos in the future that won’t be reminiscent of Redskins beyond the colors. If you don’t want any new logos added to the Commanders brand, it is only going to weaken the Commanders name. If that is your intent, why? The name isn’t not going to change.

I know you don’t like the name but the team will not change the name so they will add things to the brand that are more commanders than Redskins. It is inevitable.
Can you think of a Commanders logo to add to the brand that has nothing to do with Redskins?

Nah, I'm glad you shared your ideas! I have nowhere NEAR the skill that you do, so I just have to critique everyone else's, lol

I really do like the stars on the sleeve. That really pops, but is also subtle.

I really like that the uniforms look like the ones that we all miss and love so much.

And I LOVE the dog tag idea! Just not sure where it could work into the uniforms (or maybe just be a secondary logo).

I just like the "W" on it's own on the helmet, whether it's just the standard yellow "W" that we have now, or maybe the burgundy & yellow "W" that is the official logo, with maybe that on a yellow helmet as an alternative...

But again, thanks for sharing!

 

[Boone]

Agreed the Raise Hail creative looks great. The W is, if nothing else, clean. There are definitely bits and pieces of brand elements the team have put out that look nice, that aren't universally panned (cough, cough.. road white unis). But the underlying issue that all fan gripes converge on is the lack of a cohesive identity across all the Commanders brand stuff. Boone hit the nail on the head..


I won't quite go so far as HurQlez and say fans can't latch onto the Commanders brand absent a near literal representation of whatever that is. For one, I don't think fans make strong associations of real-world things with a football team - no one see a bear and thinks "there goes a Chicago Bear!" People think football team and local markets when they think of these football brands. What did you think about when you heard Redskins in the last 30 years? I seriously doubt it was Native American people.

That said, the whole point of a cohesive brand identity is to create a connection with the fans. A good brand is simply one you remember fondly. Today, the brand does feel like it's stabbing at being multiple things, which means it's nothing at all. Unless the biz folks figure out how to settle on an identity of some kind (military leader seems to be most workable theme), asking fans to connect with the brand will remain an uphill battle.

I have higher expectations of fans than I think HurQlez does in so far that I think we can lean into a military leader theme without being so literal with it. Don't need army helmets, gun holsters, and dog tags plastered all over our stuff - I would argue just some . I would want to lean into military only as far as we have to because the brand that people remember and love is Redskins. I can probably count on my hand the # of fans that are pure Commanders fans and have no affinity to Redskins. I think trying to cut ourselves off from Redskins entirely is a non-starter. Again, we could probably establish a new Commanders identity more efficiently by doing just that (going all military, dropping burgundy & gold colors, no more Hail this or that, no fight song, etc..) but I think we can all agree that is a terrible idea.

I think this is just a long-winded way of saying I'm not a fan of making dog tags THE logo or intentionally distancing ourselves from Redskins stuff. I believe that it is both possible and essential to thread the needle on establishing a military identity that makes the Commanders brand more recognizable without deleting the Redskins brand outright.

Am I proposing something easy? Hell no - but if the ownership group cares about the fans, they will do their damndest to make it happen. And HurQlez, thank you for your work - I'm not trying to denigrate that at all! Just disagree with some things philosophically.

Really smart post!

 

[HurQlez]

That said, the whole point of a cohesive brand identity is to create a connection with the fans. A good brand is simply one you remember fondly. Today, the brand does feel like it's stabbing at being multiple things, which means it's nothing at all. Unless the biz folks figure out how to settle on an identity of some kind (military leader seems to be most workable theme), asking fans to connect with the brand will remain an uphill battle.

I will add to this: anything about this brand that can make the Commanders an accepted name must come FROM the fans.
I said a while back that Snyder didn't like the name change so he didn't put ANY effort into making a new name that works with the fanbase nor present it in a grand way to show this is the new phase of the franchise. We the fans didn't campaign for this name. So if we are the expand this brand, the WSH front office can't simply find a solution for the fans. The fans needs to be involved with giving input within the parameters (like no feathers or R or spear if they say that). The fans needs to show the new front office, what can work. Obviously the front office will have the final say and most of the work on it; but showing the fans are involved would show the embrace of the name that is missing.

 

[HurQlez]

think this is just a long-winded way of saying I'm not a fan of making dog tags THE logo or intentionally distancing ourselves from Redskins stuff. I believe that it is both possible and essential to thread the needle on establishing a military identity that makes the Commanders brand more recognizable without deleting the Redskins brand outright.

If the Browns can have the new Dawg logo while still using the plain ol helmet as their primary logo, then there is still a place for the dog tag logo (or K9 logo) in the brand while keeping the plain W as the primary logo.

 

[HurQlez]

I won't quite go so far as @HurQlez and say fans can't latch onto the Commanders brand absent a near literal representation of whatever that is. For one, I don't think fans make strong associations of real-world things with a football team - no one see a bear and thinks "there goes a Chicago Bear!" People think football team and local markets when they think of these football brands. What did you think about when you heard Redskins in the last 30 years? I seriously doubt it was Native American people.

I didn't mean look at the team and think of the IRL representation. That is silly. I mean the reverse of that. Looking at the IRL representation and think of whatever sport team has that as their brand. And yes, when I saw an artist or movie image of a Native American, I honorably sometimes think of our team.

And I don't ignore how many people don't mind no literal representation. Many fans still want Washington Football Team (or FC) as their name (although I am confident many of those use it as a loophole to bring back Redskins branding). But that is a nationalistic kind of mindset that usually is seen in soccer clubs around the world. Using their location as their identity. But we have had a visual identity to go with our name for 88 years. With both taken, we need to replace BOTH of them. We aren't like the Packers who can have an identity with just their name. No one there wants to be renamed Green Bay Football Team.

 

[Commander PK]

I can probably count on my hand the # of fans that are pure Commanders fans and have no affinity to Redskins.

Great post. Strictly to this point I think there are many fans of this team, here and elsewhere, who would actually be shocked people like this actually exist.

New fans of this team who did not join up until they became The Commanders in February 2022. For many that would seem unfathomable that you chose THAT time to become a fan since it was such a divisive thing with the older fans.

 

[CrimsonHide1970]

The best identity is consistent success on the field. Accomplish that and no one will give a fig about any fancy or creative helmet logo.

Beautiful form and effective function can coexist. And I would argue they should.

Do you put any old body on a Lamborghini chassis/engine? Do you just take whatever colors are available on the discount rack at Home Depot and paint your house? Is a twist tie just as good as a diamond engagement ring?

Form and function go together in this world that was designed to not only be a habitable planet, but a strikingly gorgeous one as well.

 

[burgold]

Great post. Strictly to this point I think there are many fans of this team, here and elsewhere, who would actually be shocked people like this actually exist.

New fans of this team who did not join up until they became The Commanders in February 2022. For many that would seem unfathomable that you chose THAT time to become a fan since it was such a divisive thing with the older fans.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if the Commanders gained more than 10,000 new fans in 2024. Maybe they're actually Jayden Daniels fans and not "true" Commanders fans, but that's how it starts. For now, they are Commanders fans and that's the team they follow. If we stay good, many of them will evolve from bandwagon fans to die hard Commanders fans. And they will be Commanders fans much more than Washington fans or former Redskins fans

 

[Commander PK]

burgold Indeed, some reality for us old school fans. We will be the minority in a decade or so, even quicker if the team continues to win.

 

[burgold]

Undoubtedly. We are eight track tapes or maybe, more accurately, we are vinyl LPs. Now, audiophiles know that vinyl and analog recording is superior to digital. It records more of the sound and offers a truer performance, but that doesn't stop most music lovers from not owing a single record or lacking the experience of ever placing a needle on the turntable.

 

[Chris]

Beautiful form and effective function can coexist. And I would argue they should.

Do you put any old body on a Lamborghini chassis/engine? Do you just take whatever colors are available on the discount rack at Home Depot and paint your house? Is a twist tie just as good as a diamond engagement ring?

Form and function go together in this world that was designed to not only be a habitable planet, but a strikingly gorgeous one as well.

I’m going to say this one last time because, quite frankly, I’m tired of typing it…

I am not against a creative logo. Not at all, unless it’s something silly based on super heroes, cartoon characters, etc.

What I do not support is one given premium real estate on the helmet. There is room for enough improvements to the existing uniforms so that they fulfill the emotional desires of the vast majority of the fanbase. I have yet to see any design ideas for the helmet that strike a chord with me. Commanders is difficult to define. It can and does mean different things to each person. There is little to no chance that something brought forward will be universally warmly accepted. So barring a slam dunk design (fat chance) we will be right back to where we currently are, people endlessly praising it or bitching about it. Rinse and repeat.

 

[HOF44]

I think somebody said it before but what about a Pentagon worked in somehow?

 

[SkinsFTW]

They should have went with Commandos instead

File:Commandos Behind Enemy Lines.jpg - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[AngryChuckT]

I'm going to be the curmudgeon here. I loath the black uniforms. They have nothing to do with the team history at all. No where close. I know, the kiddies like them, but it's about as far away from the Skins as you can get. I can't stand the bastardized fight song. Either save it for when the name Redskins comes back or commit it to history. The new uniforms? Eh. Seems they have a different color variation for every game. Speaking of colors, go back to the burgundy. That new blood red, eh. The W looks OK but the name, eh. I suspect the NFL and their current state of thinking is probably actively working behind the scenes to keep the name Redskins from ever seeing the light of day again. There, I said it

I disliked the black uniforms from the day they were revealed. I would have loathed them but for the white abominations that were unveiled at the same time. 2/3 of the new uniforms were flaming Classic DS percentages.

 

[Ekimotama]

The logo doesn’t need to be off the wall artsy, but I still don’t like it; needs something…but what? That daggum dubya jus’ don’t sit rite, cot dangitt!
I’m a little surprised some people don’t mind it.
It be like what it be like and it just be like that sometimes 🤷‍♂️

I do like the script font for the tagline, Raise Hail.

I enjoy the dog logo quite a bit, it’s a well thought out design, good work HurQlez
I dig the stars on the sleeves also.
I suspect it’s mostly just for shits and giggles to play around with designs…or do you have a plan to send that to the team? Either way keep at it.

Speaking of dogs, what ever happened to the K9s for warriors? Were they doing that this past season? Maybe I was too caught up in the games to notice.

I was playing around for a minute and made this one just for fun. But that’s a way we can have our feathers back lol.

 

[HurQlez]

Ekimotama Thanks for the praise!
As for sending my designs to the team, not a day goes by that I don’t try to send my designs. It is a challenge though to find the right person who will receive it.

FYI, they did do the team dog this season. They however used a different shelter than “K9s for Warriors”.

Also, the only feathers we can use for Commanders are from an eagle. And we are no Philly boys.