San Jose Earthquakes are a football (or Soccer) team based in San Jose, California. They play in the MLS and are a club with lots of history and tradition embedded in their roots. They are a successful side and have won several major trophies in the MLS since its inception in 1993 and have has many noteable players during their time- most notably England legend George Best. They have recently celebrated their 40th anniversary and as such they revealed a new club crest as well as new home and away kits.

 

I have visited San Jose a number of times and being a big football fan I took an immediate interest in San Jose Earthquakes. Upon the release of the new club crest however, I found myself diasppointed with the design. I felt it didnt quite represent the crest of a football club like we are used to in Europe- although it was an improvement of the crest it was replacing, I felt with a little bit of refinement it could be made to look much more traditional and therefore be much more able to fully represent San Jose Eathquakes as a global football brand, not just an MLS Fanchise- an aim in which the MLS has been working towards itself.

 

Below you can see the previous SJE logo as well as the history of the logo from the Franchise's formation in 1974, through its San Jose Clash period in the 90's and up to the present day (note- there was a period from 1988-1994 when San Jose did not have a team).

As you can see from the previous incarnations of the various logos, there are some design elements that are present throughout. The use of a football in each of the crest designs is important as it has been present since the beginning and it also shows immediately what the logo is for. The name of the team is another important elemot of the crest as, again, it shows what the logo is for and who it represents. It is interesting to see that the new crset features the football cradled in an axis-like element. This subtle nod to the very first SJE logo which featured the football spinning on an axis like a globe.

 

Below you can see the design I came up with. The main concept is the same as the new crest that the Earthquakes have revealed with a few tweaks of my own. I have changed the shape of the sheild to one that is seen more often in the big european leagues. I have also included the full name of the club rather than the shortened 'Qakes' as I felt this was a little too informal and not representative of the clubs official name. Another of the more obvious changes is the reduction of empty space in the logo. I have tried to acheive this in a way that still keeps the logo looking as clean as possible but without looking incomplete.