This one really pisses me off. It pisses me off because Atlético have one of most unique badges in European football. It's close to perfect, and I see no reason to mess with it. Naturally, the club have decided that they need a re-brand. Maybe it has to do with them moving into their new stadium next season. Perhaps someone figured a new stadia needed a new logo.
Atlético de Madrid are a huge club in Spain. They're the third most successful club in the country and have a rich history, beginning in 1903 as an offshoot of The Athletic Club in Bilbao. They are known as the "colchoneros" or "mattress makers" because of the unique red and white striped shirts of their uniform. In the 1930's mattresses in Spain were commonly covered with red and white striped fabric. Athletic Club wear the same stripes, since they have a common history. And yet, Atleti's shirts with bright blue shorts are quintessentially them. You know that kit anywhere, and you know that badge anywhere.
Atlético's old badge is pure class. It incorporates the colors of the team, the famous red and white stripes sit asymetrically under a blue triangle. I'm not sure what the stars signify, but there are seven of them. Inside the blue triangle is a white one, upon which sits the bear and the strawberry tree, a very old motif that has long been used to represent the city of Madrid.
Their new logo reminds me of a lame logo for an MLS team. Almost every MLS badge is either tacky as fuck, or a ripoff of an existing badge (usually from an existing European team with years of history). What they've gone for with the new badge is a bigger bear and tree (for which they had to turn the bear and have him facing to the right). To make matters worse, they've decided to screw with the traditional colors, opting for a darker red and blue. The stripe are no longer off center. Add to that the white stars, and the whole thing looks like some odd American flag ripoff. Dreadful.
So, I took my design back to the traditional shape of the badge, tweaked the bear and tree, changed to the new color scheme (which I hate) and I figured I'd leave it at that. A sort of compromise to whatever the hell their new vision is. Like I said at the outset, their current badge is awesome. If it were me, I wouldn't do anything to it but tweak the bear and tree. If what they want is to eliminate colors in the original badge (the green, black and brown) in order the help with the printing or execution of the logo in various mediums, then I'm willing to go with red, white, and blue for the color palette . . . but preferably the old red, white, and blue.
