WEEKLY WHINE

Thank you for sacking

There now follows a ranking of the top 48 Super Bowl logos from the past 48 years. Criteria included recognisability [can you tell that this is the Super Bowl?], location exclusivity [can you tell where it is being played?], interestingness [can you distinguish it from the other Super Bowl logos?], and nonuglyness [can you look at it without feeling the urge to vomit?].

1. Super Bowl XXVII, SUN 31 JAN 1993, Pasadena, CA, USA: What is there to improve upon this logo? Nothing? Exactly. The roses are an attractive location designator, the Super Bowl text is correctly sized, and the beveling on the Roman numerals provides just the right amount of contrast.
2. Super Bowl XXXIX, SUN 06 FEB 2005, Jacksonville, FL, USA: This logo is perfect in almost every respect. The colour scheme, the bridge, and the wave come together to identify this as Jacksonville’s Super Bowl. Our only quibble is that the ribbon merges into the rightmost X.
3. Super Bowl XXX, SUN 28 JAN 1996, Tempe, AZ, USA: This logo drew inspiration from Navajo art, leading to a result that was dramatically better than anything else one thinks of in association with the letters XXX.
4. Super Bowl XXXI, SUN 26 JAN 1997, New Orleans, LA, USA: This logo did an excellent job highlighting its location without becoming too busy like later logos.
5. Super Bowl XXXVIII, SUN 01 FEB 2004, Houston, TX, USA: This logo does an excellent job highlighting both aspects of Houston’s dual identity: the Roman numerals look like they came straight from a belt buckle, while the colour scheme and corner arcs are clearly in homage to NASA.
6. Super Bowl XVII, SUN 30 JAN 1983, Pasadena, CA, USA: This logo seems to come straight from a classic automobile. Pasadena should have donated this logo to Detroit for the previous Super Bowl.
7. Super Bowl XXXII, SUN 25 JAN 1998, San Diego, CA, USA: This logo, with naval signal flags forming the Roman numerals, was an excellent fit to its location. Our only complaint is that the gold on the southward pointer should be on the other side.
8. Super Bowl XXVIII, SUN 30 JAN 1994, Atlanta, GA, USA: Atlanta’s first Super Bowl identifies itself clearly and proudly here. This logo seems to declare two things: “This will be a peach of a Super Bowl” and “This will be a blue ribbon event”.
9. Super Bowl XXXV, SUN 28 JAN 2001, Tampa, FL, USA: This seems to be a very good fit to a Tampa Super Bowl, perhaps due to the metallic badge that looks like it was bolted onto the pirate ship at the Buccaneers’ stadium.
10. Super Bowl XII, SUN 15 JAN 1978, New Orleans, LA, USA: This logo begins like the Super Bowl VIII and XI logos. But wait! What are these wonderful Mardi Gras ribbons doing here? They’re forming the Roman numeral! To our dismay, this brilliantly executed idea has recurred in no Super Bowl logo since.
11. Super Bowl IX, SUN 12 JAN 1975, New Orleans, LA, USA: The delightful curlicues on the S and the X declare to the viewer, “Why yes, this Super Bowl is being played in New Orleans. Thank you for noticing.”
12. Super Bowl XXIII, SUN 22 JAN 1989, Miami, FL, USA: Although later logos would use colour as a location designator, this one announces South Florida without straying from the red, white, and blue colours prominent in this era.
13. Super Bowl XXXVII, SUN 26 JAN 2003, San Diego, CA, USA: Overall, this is a well executed logo, but we struggle to understand why the ribbon has a drop shadow.
14. Super Bowl XXXIII, SUN 31 JAN 1999, Miami, FL, USA: This logo is so three dimensional, it has sucked the date and location into the third dimension. Perhaps the most overtly Miamian Super Bowl logo.
15. Super Bowl XLII, SUN 03 FEB 2008, Glendale, AZ, USA: We here at GoobNet long for a return to the Speeding Geography series of Super Bowl logos.
16. Super Bowl XIX, SUN 20 JAN 1985, Stanford, CA, USA: Though fitting for any game, this logo seems particularly suited to a Super Bowl being played in an Empire State Building elevator.
17. Super Bowl XX, SUN 26 JAN 1986, New Orleans, LA, USA: This is a very well executed logo, up to the point where somebody dropped the Xs and cracked them.
18. Super Bowl XXIV, SUN 28 JAN 1990, New Orleans, LA, USA: This logo carries the proper balance of ribbon with Roman numeral, though the inline lettering does not seem to fit New Orleans.
19. Super Bowl XXXVI, SUN 03 FEB 2002, New Orleans, LA, USA: Changed in a hurry after TUE 11 SEP 2001, this is a rare example of a Super Bowl logo that is better without a location designator.
20. Super Bowl XIV, SUN 20 JAN 1980, Pasadena, CA, USA: This logo is clearly made for a neon sign.
21. Super Bowl XXV, SUN 27 JAN 1991, Tampa, FL, USA: From the pentagonal shape to the decorative border, this logo seems better suited for a Super Bowl played in New York City.
22. Super Bowl XIII, SUN 21 JAN 1979, Miami, FL, USA: This logo pays tribute to the dot matrix scoreboard that had taken over most stadiums by then.
23. Super Bowl III, SUN 12 JAN 1969, Miami, FL, USA: This was the first Super Bowl logo to convey any information about where it was played [the United States of America].
24. Super Bowl X, SUN 18 JAN 1976, Miami, FL, USA: Well, it’s certainly economical. This is perhaps the simplest Super Bowl logo of all time, beating the Super Bowl II logo by one letter.
25. Super Bowl XXVI, SUN 26 JAN 1992, Minneapolis, MN, USA: Curiously, until Super Bowl XLV, no Super Bowl logo featured the Vince Lombardi Trophy, although this one came close.
26. Super Bowl XXI, SUN 25 JAN 1987, Pasadena, CA, USA: Could have been one of the all time great logos, but there are just too many sharp angles.
27. Super Bowl XXIX, SUN 29 JAN 1995, Miami, FL, USA: This is an excellent logo for a Phoenix Super Bowl. Too bad this one was actually played in Miami. A couple of changes to the palette – orange instead of burnt red, and aqua instead of pale blue – would make this an instantly recognisable logo specific to South Florida.
28. Super Bowl XXXIV, SUN 30 JAN 2000, Atlanta, GA, USA: Oddly, this is the only Super Bowl logo ever to draw inspiration from the NFL shield. However, the beveling on the Roman numerals seems too deep, and the gratuitous use of the year is nonsensical. Still, we thank Atlanta for omitting the words “First Super Bowl of the New Millennium”.
29. Super Bowl IV, SUN 11 JAN 1970, New Orleans, LA, USA: Although a great many Super Bowl logos have been rendered in red, white, and blue, this was the first to expand the palette. The use of drop shadows gives it a more solid feel.
30. Super Bowl I, SUN 15 JAN 1967, Los Angeles, CA, USA: Aside from the obvious criticism, the claim of a “world championship game” between two leagues based entirely in the same nation, this logo conveys the essential information, save for the location, in a minimalist style.
31. Super Bowl II, SUN 14 JAN 1968, Miami, FL, USA: What event is this? The Super Bowl. Which one is it? The second one. Got it!
32. Super Bowl VII, SUN 14 JAN 1973, Los Angeles, CA, USA: Oddly, this logo combines the best use of inline lettering in a Super Bowl logo with the worst use of drop shadows.
33. Super Bowl XXII, SUN 31 JAN 1988, San Diego, CA, USA: Well done with the artistic diamond shape, but the words Super Bowl would have been better suited by a more rounded, less blocky font.
34. Super Bowl XLIV, SUN 07 FEB 2010, Miami Gardens, FL, USA: Somewhere, Scott Norwood turned to the heavens and cried, “Whyyyyyy?” when this logo was unveiled.
35. Super Bowl XVIII, SUN 22 JAN 1984, Tampa, FL, USA: This was the first logo to render the words Super Bowl on a ribbon. However, we would have preferred a smaller ribbon.
36. Super Bowl VI, SUN 16 JAN 1972, New Orleans, LA, USA: This logo seems to suggest that this was the first Super Bowl played under the big top. Nonetheless, the font seems fit for a game played in New Orleans.
37. Super Bowl VIII, SUN 13 JAN 1974, Houston, TX, USA: This was the first Super Bowl not played in Miami, New Orleans, or Los Angeles, but you would never guess that from the logo. Furthermore, one hopes for a larger B.
38. Super Bowl XI, SUN 09 JAN 1977, Pasadena, CA, USA: Simply a recoloured version of the Super Bowl VIII logo.
39. Super Bowl XL, SUN 05 FEB 2006, Detroit, MI, USA: This logo introduces the red and blue stars and the NFL’s block font, making it the first step on the way to the current Super Bowl logo shame.
40. Super Bowl XLI, SUN 04 FEB 2007, Miami Gardens, FL, USA: This logo is one of the most nonsensical in history: whoever heard of a sparkling pylon? Curiously, this is only the second Super Bowl logo, after XXVI, to include an American football.
41. Super Bowl XV, SUN 25 JAN 1981, New Orleans, LA, USA: Most Super Bowl logos are dominated by the Roman numeral, but none more so than this one.
42. Super Bowl XVI, SUN 24 JAN 1982, Pontiac, MI, USA: Perhaps the embossing was meant to make it look like a hood ornament, but it’s just too thick for our taste.
43. Super Bowl V, SUN 17 JAN 1971, Miami, FL, USA: The inline lettering seems to fit a Super Bowl played in Miami, but the rounded E just doesn’t do it for us.
44. Super Bowl XLIII, SUN 01 FEB 2009, Tampa, FL, USA: What is this? Super Bowl XLIII. Where is it being played? On a field. Got it!
45. Super Bowl XLVIII, SUN 02 FEB 2014, East Rutherford, NJ, USA: It’s the least awful of the recent cookie cutter Super Bowl logos. The NFL may have failed us, but the Internet never lets anyone down. Uni Watch readers developed 30 logos for this Super Bowl, each better than the actual one.
46. Super Bowl XLV, SUN 06 FEB 2011, Arlington, TX, USA: Okay, this tells you that it’s a Super Bowl, and it tells you where it is. But those are its only redeeming qualities.
47. Super Bowl XLVI, SUN 05 FEB 2012, Indianapolis, IN, USA: And this is the problem with the NFL’s new Super Bowl “logo system”. The logos are nearly indistinguishable from one another.
48. Super Bowl XLVII, SUN 03 FEB 2013, New Orleans, LA, USA: What, that’s it?! This was New Orleans’s first Super Bowl since Katrina! This was the city’s triumphant return to the global stage! And all we get is this? But it does seem appropriate: the shadows between the Roman numerals are a perfect fit for the Blackout Bowl.