With the surprising demise of The Alliance of American Football, my plan of creating more logos (and videos) for potential AAF franchises was cancelled. However, from the ashes of that idea came a new idea that would explore the cross-section of sports and design in a creative way: the Fiction City Football League.
Fiction City Football League is a project that involved coming up with logos for 8 soccer (football) teams from 8 distinct fictional cities. Each of the cities selected happened to be from the DC Comics Universe. The Eastern Conference would be made of Gotham, Metropolis, Freeland, and Dakota City. The Western Conference would be made of Coast City, Central City (Heartland United), Star City, and National City. In a series of videos on my YouTube channel, my friend TJ Tooley and I discussed each city and potential design directions. But first, I had to come up with the concept for the league itself.
The FCFL Logo
The FCFL logo design process started with the soccer ball. I illustrated the soccer ball first. When illustrating something from real life, I like to analyze a live action photo to pull the essential elements from it. These elements may or may not include the shadows. The overall design was inspired by patches I’ve seen on various soccer kits throughout the world.
The FCFL text obviously had to be on there to identity the league. They are positioned in such a way where the “FC” is on top and the “FL” is on the bottom. They not only stand for FICTION CITY FOOTBALL LEAGUE but the FC on top represents FOOTBALL CLUB. It’s common to see “FC” at the end of many franchise names.
The 8 lines below represent the inaugural class of teams (4 Western, 4 Eastern). The colors were inspired by the logo I made for the Instagram account, Fiction City Logos. The Eastern & Western Conference logos pull from the symbolism of the main FCFL logo. I made a FC1 (“FICTION CITY ONE”) television channel logo for the FCFL broadcast deal. (I’m thorough when I want to be.)
With the main league branding established, the 8 teams could be named and the logos designed.
Gotham & Metropolis
Two of the most notable cities in all of comic books start off the FCFL journey. FC Gotham is inspired by the Art Deco vibe seen in adaptations like Batman: The Animated Series. The colors match the mood of Gotham City while the inside references the Batsignal itself.
The Mighty Metropolis is much brighter compared to Gotham, mirroring the difference in imagery between Superman and Batman. I used the outline of the Superman symbol on the inside and placed a soccer ball inside. The big M and the large, tall text MIGHTY speaks to the bold personality of the franchise.
Freeland & Dakota City
Freeland, home of Black Lightning, gains a franchise in the Freeland Pride. TJ mentioned the idea of the logo being a fist and I thought that was perfect to capture the heritage, pride, and power that the city would want represented in a football club. The shield of Freeland Pride consists of the raised fist, which has a negative space state of Georgia snuck in there, and a hidden F around the wrist.
Dakota City, home of the Dakotaverse of Milestone Media, got the mascot treatment. The Dakota City Football Club aka the Wolves’ logo is inspired by Wolverhampton Wanderers FC as well as the Inter Miami CF logos. The soccer ball replaced the snout in the illustration. The line between the ears not only represents the fur on a wolf but is a subtle reference to lightning and the Dakotaverse’s most popular character and hero, Static Shock. The “1993” at the bottom represents the year Milestone Media was founded.
The Heartland & The Coast
Central City was going to get a franchise but we wanted to avoid the obvious Flash connection. Also, geographically this club would have to represent a large area of the country. So, we decided to name the team Heartland United. My mind immediately went to corn fields so I created a laurel of sorts with the name and the soccer ball in the center.
Coast City, home of the Green Lantern Hal Jordan, used the waves of the ocean and the soccer ball itself as the center imagery. The name of the club hugs the center image with a Green Lantern symbol on each side.
Star & National
With Star City, we wanted to do something a little different and name the team Shining Star City. The logo plays with the star imagery as well as the bow & arrow. Being the home of the Green Arrow Oliver Queen means the Star City logo had to touch on that at some point. Overall, we wanted the name and the design to work together as a cohesive concept.
National City, home of Supergirl, immediately sounds very patriotic, hinted at by the use of red and blue as well as the stars. The wing in the center is a reference to flight, freedom, and Supergirl herself.
In Conclusion
The FCFL was a fun project that stretched my imagination and allowed me to practice interpreting various things in a visual way. It was a worthwhile challenge creating brands for a league that uniquely spoke to each brand and worked together within the confines of a football league. I wonder what other cities or sports I’ll tackle next.
~b.
WATCH THE WHOLE SERIES AT youtube.com/creativebobbie