Compare/Contrast

The Golden State Warriors of the NBA have fallen on tough times the last few years. They've exhibited promise with a helpful slew of rookies and young talent mixed with seasoned veterans, however finding that recipe for success has been nowhere near their kitchen. The Warriors earned a postseason berth as recent as 2007 but that has been the lone bright spot for well over a decade. A change is needed to spruce things up, maybe steer this bewildered franchise in the right direction.

Altering the look of a major sports franchise isn't an easy task and takes tremendous cooperation. The Tampa Bay Rays of the MLB changed their appearance and made it to the World Series a couple years later. The Golden State Warriors are hoping for a similar story by changing their logo and color scheme for the upcoming 2010-2011 season.

The new logo emphasizes simplicity. A bold two color scheme with the royal blue and yellow compared to the several shades of blue from the old design, including the gradient of orange/yellow within the 'Warriors' text. The bridge in the new design isn't that of the infamous Golden Gate Bridge, but that of the Bay Bridge which connects the cities of Oakland and San Francisco. Why the Bay Bridge instead of one known worldwide? The Warriors relocated from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1962. In 1971, the team played their home games in Oakland, where they still reside today, hence the addition of the Bay Bridge into the new, revamped logo.

The Warriors have also reverted from the lightning bolt design and nixed their mascot 'Thunder' due to another team relocating and changing their name to the Thunder, now in Oklahoma City. The new design is lacking any affiliation with basketball, however. The old logo included a basketball as the background of the image to group the logo together and center the mascot and name. There are alternatives to the new logo though which do include the white seams of a basketball that will be used on occasion. This move to simplicity is hopefully the right direction for this sinking ship of a franchise, only time will tell.