Tatt's all folks
by Richard Lawrence
10/1/2010
They cost thousands to design, take hours to create, and over countless meetings are finally approved. The Super Bowl logo is a small piece of perfect art that acts as a mental tattoo for the most important day on the NFL calendar.
The simple sight of the Roman numeral digits XXI over a bold red rose will forever propel me back to my first Super Bowl, calling downstairs to parents for score updates way past bedtime hours. And whilst I am not quite sure of it's exact location, somewhere in my loft you will find wrapped in tissue paper, more precious than a thousand rubies, a Super Bowl pin shining brightly in all it's tiny multi-coloured glory. Bold red XXVI lettering emblazoned on a perfectly neat bow-tie shaped deep blue enamel, in the background a football jetting through the air, no doubt being launched by Mark Rypien on it's way to an expectant Gary Clark. All this detail has been expertly inked onto my own personal bonsai-trophy marking the day the Redskins thumped the Bills. Magpies beware, this is one piece of glistening mini-memorabilia that will never find its way onto Ebay.
This week however the NFL announced a change to the logo concept for all future Super Bowls in that the basic design will remain unchanged with the Vince Lombardi trophy becoming a permanent fixture. The only difference from year to year will be a new stadium backdrop and the Roman numerals of the game.
At the unveiling of the new Super Bowl XLV logo the NFL's chief marketing officer Mark Waller said "if you look back over history, you'll notice the logo has changed every year. Going forward, we're actually going to have a core identity logo that stays the same, and then we're going to show very different original versions of it, starting with the North Texas Super Bowl."
In another new step it was revealed that the NFL has "developed a new Super Bowl identity system that includes two logos for use. The national logo will be the NFL's main expression for promoting the Super Bowl property. The regional logo can be used as a way for the League and its partners to accentuate the region and localize products and promotions. The regional icon that will be used year to year is the stadium in which the game will be played. The regional logo for Super Bowl XLV features Cowboys Stadium."
And so as we bid farewell to the colourful designs that we are used to, let us take this opportunity to look back and enjoy the micro-beauty of the last 44 Super Bowl logos. Have you got your favourite tattooed on your bicep yet?
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