Logo Update with Helmet Poll

No, FIU did not change the logo again, but here's an update to the new Golden Panthers logo.

The first draft I saw of the logo on the football helmets were with the FIU block letters in dark blue with gold and white trims. That was a rough draft. Very rough.

The block FIU letters are going to be in white on the dark blue helmet. Sort of like how the letters have been on the previous helmet (right), except that the letters will be block.

The entire logo (blocks letters and new Golden Panther) fits on the side of the helmet. Whether that's the final decision remains to be seen.

The Turtle will stop by on the next post for a talk with the GPP.

GOLDEN PANTHER PAWSE

SouthPaw: Like you I too wondered about blue letters on blue helmets, but FIU got that squared away.

FIUrulez: The Sun Belt Conference does not have any rule on musical instruments at games, unlike the SEC.

CJ: I'll get your question to MC when we do the Q & A.

FIUBlueandGold: TT wants to wait until after the College World Series to see what assistant coaches are available around college baseball for the pitching coach job. I'll have an interview with TT on the GPP soon.

Miri: The new FIU merchandise should come out later this summer in time before the new stadium  opens. Maybe, you'll root for Larry Wayne Jones later this summer when he's tries to become the first .400 hitter since Ted Williams (.406) in 1941. He's currently at .420.

FIUJM: Ryan Mollica was only a junior last season so he will be back for his senior season at FIU in 2009. Another year of hitting over .400 and over .500 in conference play will get him drafted.

FIUFan: The change in the Golden Panther logo was to usher in a new era of FIU athletics and the university wanted to consolidate the 50-plus logos into 1 by going with FIU in block letters. President Maidique said the new aggressive Golden Panther was re-drawn to reflect the aggressive nature of FIU. At least the Golden Panther is on the prowl. Unlike the bird from the other school you mentioned. Like you said that bird is going to need something to clean his foot with, because he's about to step in it.

Clawing Cancer: Seriously, I think we could excuse Jessica Simpson if she had a pimple on her face....Come on!

waveonshore, AxlRoseLovesWRGP, FIU Civil Eng. & EddieM : Welcome all to the GPP.

waveonshore: Glad to hear Justin Leith is headed to FIU. The Golden Panthers had just one lefty pitcher last season and could use many more.

AxlRoseLovesWRGP: I know you're a big fan of FIU. But one question, did you ever find that Axl Rose statue on the FIU campus?

FIUrulez requested it and since the new FIU helmets have not been made yet, let's hear what you think....

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Comments

[FIU Florida Power & Light]

I think the helmet with just the FIU letters is too plain.

Pete, can you create some unofficial, speculative renditions of the helmet (one with the FIU letters only and one with the entire logo) so that we can vote on which style we like most?

This may help influence the decision makers at FIU since they are fans of this blog.

[SouthPaw]

In my opinion, we should have GOLD helmets with white block FIU letters bordered in blue. GOLD helments are best way to really show a change of direction and leadership from the prior program. Gold helments for the golden panthers--what a concept!

With the entire panther on the helmet, the FIU letters will be too high on our helmets (see LSU). I don't mind having the panther head with the block FIU letters, as long as the FIU letters don't ride too high on the helmet.

As some have mentioned before, I agree that from a distance, the new logo can look like a panther in front of the letters "FW", so I'd prefer just the panther head in front of the FIU letters. Of course, if "FW" translates into Football Wins, then I'm very happy with the "FW".

[FIUJM]

Pete, thanks for answering my question about Mollica. I'm surprised he wasn't drafted, especially after a having great Jr year. It's ok, we'll be more than glad to watch him tear it up his Sr. year.

As for the helmets, i want something different. I actually like SouthPaw's idea about the gold helmets. I just don't want to be disappointed having the same helmet as last year. Seems like we're pretty much going to stick to the old helmet. I like the FIU in block letters but something else needs to be added to stick out on the football field.

GO FIU!!!

[Miri]

Thanks Pete. I can't wait to show off our new logo.

And a big meh to Chipper. :P

Were you at the game when Griffey hit his 600th?

[FIU Florida Power & Light]

Gold helmet......... I like it!

[FIUrulez]

I would really like them to consider gold jerseys instead. How about just bringing back the golden pants? Many people have said it and I will echo the sentiment: We're the GOLDEN Panthers, lets stress the GOLDEN a little. Of course, this won't help with wins but at least our team will look good!
Pete, how bout another survey! (sorry I couldn't help myself)
How much Gold would you like to see in the uniform?
1) Gold helmets
2) gold jerseys
3) gold pants
4) hell, lets make them gold from top to bottom!

[CJ]

lol FIUrulez i think we can go gold in either the jersey or the pants. i would keep the helmet blue... and never shall the gold jersey and gold pants meet. that would be way to flashy and border line austin powers 3 gold-member. lol just a suggesttion for the helmets... now i know everyone wants the FIU letters on there but why not just the panther.. from a marketing stand point i understand why the letter need to be on the helmet but couldnt an image also do as much selling.. i mean.. i know no1 here really likes to compare these teams but The U only has just that a U on their helmet in their collors, FSU just has an arrow. bama doesnt even have a logo just a player # yet all these helmets are recognizable w/o the University name on them. so how bout the idea of just the panther on there. (just a thought )

[FIUFan]

PP, the only thing that is going to "usher in a new era of FIU athletics" is WINNING!

I've seen more iterations of our logo/mascot than most here (from the ol' Sunblazer to the overly aggressive 'block cat') and it has yet to make a difference. So why wrap the entire university system, its 120,000 alumni and 40,000 students in this dogma?

We are much more than a want-to-be athletic program, but that's all this current logo appears to imply.

[CJ]

FIUfan... its the offseason... right now there is nothing really happening and since i dont think the herald is goin to send pete to cover forbes at the NCAA meet this is really all we have to discuss... once summer B (recruits from 08 step onto campus) and summer practices begin im sure there will be something a bit more relevant to sports.. until this.. this is really what is up for topic lol... side note pete, hows forbes doing up in the NCAA meet

[FIUFan]

CJ, I'm fine with the topic, it's Madique's insistence on an overly aggressive panther as the university-wide logo. Imagine seeing some professional correspondence between say FIU's legal or finance department to some State of Florida government agency with this panther on the envelop. How unprofessional would that be?

So again, no problem with the subject matter (I'm actually glad it came up) just concerned about what the President is saying to everyone else with this icon and the reflection it casts upon all of us.

[EddieM]

The panther is not the institutional logo.

[CJ]

ya i think your misunderstanding the statement. from what my understainding its only for the sports logo.. the university sheild will still be used for the other academic things.. thats just our sports icon

[FIU Fan]

The university has other, professional logos. Most of the correspondence just has FIU and the university seal. Check it out at FIU.edu.

For example, UM has a similar policy. The 'U' is only supposed to be used for sports. If not sports related, they have another logo they use.

[FIUrulez]

GPPers, I was just fooling around with the new logo in MS paint and decided to remove the body and it looks really nice. I really think that they should put ONLY the head of the panther on a blue helmet! Less is more! Try it for yourself and see!

[FIU Fanatic]

Ronald Forbes just won his preliminary heat of the 110 meters hurdles to advance to the Semi finals tomorrow night....Congrats to Ronald are in order!!

http://www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=1480232

[Clawing Cancer]

Pete:

Glad to see you used my Jessica Simpson reference to get a free shot of her on the blog. And where did you get that pic? I never thought JS showed cleavage like that. Not that I'm complaining. :)

On a more relevant note... could you please add another option to the poll? That option being "just the new panther head, no letters". That's the one I'd vote for. Barring that, I'll go with the letters and just the head, LSU-style.

I also figured it was only a matter of time before SouthPaw showed up with the "gold" argument. Maybe he's the real "goldmember". ;)

I'd like to see more gold in general on the uniforms, but I'm not sure about having the helmet gold. Not with the new logo. The reason I'd go white helmet is because gold and blue are pretty equal on the logo. White makes the logo stand out better.

[gpantera]

The moment we went to a gold or white helmet, half the blog would scream for the blue helmet.

Just leave the color alone. Clean up the logo and keep it simple.

Let's focus on winning football games.

[FIU Fanatic]

Agree with gpantera...

[FI-UM FAN]

Who is looking at Jessica Simpsons face? Great pic!

[FIUBlueandGold]

After further review - I did try the MsPaint thing and have concluded that the panther head alone or FIU in block lettering alone is enough...Both together just look too busy.

I'd like a new beginning, so I guess I lean towards the vicious panther head only.

[FIUFan]

Thanks guys. PP's comment kinda threw me off:

"The change in the Golden Panther logo was to usher in a new era of FIU athletics and the university wanted to consolidate the 50-plus logos into 1 by going with FIU in block letters."

[FIUFan]

Hey guys, in an interest of getting this right. Check out all the NFL helmets and BCS conference schools here; http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

ALL animal mascots are shown in profile. And most are just outlines of the animal (see SMU's galloping pony in C-USA).

Our face on, overly aggressive panther will look stupid (like the old Tampa Bay gay-blade buccaneer).

A galloping or stalking panther IN PROFILE might look cool. But trust me, there's a reason the NFL and the big schools don't use a face-on cartoon, it looks unprofessional.

Our designers should customize an example from the above given site.

[SouthPaw]

FIUFan, take a look at LSU's helmet and TCU's helmet--these are face on animal mascots. I don't mind the panther head with FIU, and wouldn't mind just FIU either, but the whole stalking panther is too busy for a helmet. I'd prefer a gold helmet, but I'm OK with a blue helmet--FIU in white letters bordered in gold and the panther head would look very nice. But we HAVE to go back to gold pants. Those blueberry pants looked ridiculous (especially the all blue at home look) and brought nothing but bad luck. The golden panthers needs to show some gold!!

[FIUrulez]

I have never really had a problem with the current helmet. I know some people hate it but I think it looks classic. I wonder how it would look with the FIU filled in gold. Hell! Just make the entire uniform gold and play from noon to 3:00 p.m. so that the sun bounces off our guys and blinds our opponents!

[Cane.at.Heart]

Hey everyone, I just started reading this blog and I have to say that I absolutely love it. I really like the idea of making changes within FIU athletics and I'm really excited about the direction FIU's athletic department is heading.

Regarding the new logo, I agree with FIUFan. The face-on logo would look a bit cartoonish. A panther in profile would look a lot better and less childish.

I found a website with different panther logos and found two that are pretty cool. I really like the 1st and 2nd logos in the 5th row and the 4th logo on the 6th row.
Check 'em out:

http://www.alcdsb.on.ca/~regiath/Special_Links/pantherlogos/pantherlogos.html

[FIUFan]

SP, I see what you mean about the LSU tiger though it's more of a realistic tiger face. The hornfrog is in 1/4 profile but every other school is in full profile.

I agree with you about the current FIU helmet and if they were to add a realistic Florida Panther face (like LSU's tiger) I think that would be cool. But a face-on scowling panther is really too cartoonish for me.

[CJ]

i never had a prob. either w/ the current helmet, i know this isnt the best of judges but if you ever have played NCAA 08 ... where they let you design a /build a team. ive actually tried to reuild FIU w/ colors and the actual(old Logo) on the helmet... but what the manther head on there reminds me of is something like a bobcat setting they have... that really doesnt look to intimidating even w/ the teeth.. cane@heart i see what you mean about the one on the 6th row, it is very interesting. although the noles' color are a bit strang but i will say that would look awesome in the dark blue and gold... the ones on the 5th row are just as thundercatish.... something similar to ksu i think as well

[CJ]

Cane@heart, the very last one is also a great logo... last row all the way to the right is nice

[Clawing Cancer]

Wow... constant debates over uniforms and logos... I guess it's obvious that most of us can't wait for football season to begin. We clearly need better discussion material very, very soon. :)

For the record, I'm fine with most anything FIU decides. I like the current helmet, too, and I'd be fine with just the letters, especially from a branding perspective. But if anything, FIU fan, your argument might just be the reason doing just the panther head makes sense. If no one else does their helmets like that, then FIU's will stand out.

Let's not get too complicated with this, people. It's like gpantera and Fanatic and a bunch of others say. It's just a logo. Blue, white, gold, purple... whatever. Just make sure the logos look good, the uni's look good and let's move on. Besides, FIU might change it again in another 3 years.

Seriously, this better be the last of logo changes for a while. And by a while, I mean until I die. :)