A B-Side BY Armin

Portland Thorns FC

About: As part of the new, 8-team professional women’s soccer league organized by U.S. Soccer, set to being play in Spring 2013, “Peregrine Sports, LLC — parent company of the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer — today announced that its new professional women’s soccer club will be named Portland Thorns FC.”

Design by: Brent Diskin.

Ed.’s Notes: The logo has been designed by a Portland Timbers’ superfan and, although it’s not the greatest logo on earth, with the premise of being a fan-designed logo it surprisingly doesn’t suck.

Relevant links: Q&A with the designer. Press release.

Select quote: “The circular badge features team colors of red, green and black with a protective wreath of thorns surrounding a familiar, stylized rose in the center. Further, city-inspired details are presented in the form of a pair of four-pointed stars, or hypocycloids, that house the letters ‘F’ and ‘C’ and anchor the sides of the badge, a callout to the left-centered, directional star prominent on Portland’s official city flag that also flies in the stands and high atop JELD-WEN Field in downtown Portland.”

Thanks to Chris Campbell for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

P is for Window

Established in 1892, the Portland Art Museum is the seventh oldest museum in the United States and the oldest in the Pacific Northwest. The museum houses more than 42,000 objects that span American, Asian, Modern and Contemporary, and Native American Arts, as well as photography and silver. In September the Portland Art Museum introduced a new identity designed by Portland-based Ziba.

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A B-Side BY Armin

Bicycle Transportation Alliance

Established in 1990, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is a “non-profit membership organization working to promote bicycling and improve bicycling conditions in Oregon and SW Washington”, most popularly in the bike-loving city of Portland. New logo designed by local firm North. More story here.

Thanks to John Lascurettes for the tip.

Opinion BY Armin

Lumberjack Soccer

While the whole world has soccer in their brains I figured the timing might be right to feature a diminutive component that helps fuel this worldwide craze. From the deep, damp and cold confines of the United States’ northwest, the Portland Timbers have had a soccer team since 1975 when it competed in the North American Soccer League and most recently played in the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) Division 2 league, or, more bluntly, the minor league to the Major Soccer League (MSL) where the Timbers will be graduating to in the upcoming 2011 season, becoming the 18th team. In preparation for the move, the Timbers unveiled a new identity designed by Rare Design, a firm in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with plenty of athletic identity experience.

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