The best reason Twitter should be allowed to continue to exist...
April 11, 2018 2:16 AM   Subscribe

What's the intersection between (1) sports fan (2) bird lover and (3) graphic designer? It's Michael Taylor's ‘Other Birds as the Orioles Logo’. Originally an April Fools joke, the Twitter account has gotten thousands of Followers and Likes for the Flamingo, Atlantic Puffin, Pteranodon and Egg. Baltimore media took note, as did SBNation in an interview where the artist considered another MLB mascot to do variations on... the San Diego Padres 'Swinging Friar'.
posted by oneswellfoop (16 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
These are fun and charming. But then I love the Orioles logo and I'm glad they've kept it. (And while I live in the DC area, I'm on the Maryland side so I like to claim Baltimore as my hometown teams too.)
posted by darksong at 5:01 AM on April 11, 2018


The Canada Goose logo should involve more pooping.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:02 AM on April 11, 2018 [7 favorites]


I'm both a baseball fan and bird watcher (though definitely not a graphic designer), and while I have a soft spot for the classic cartoony oriole, it should be pointed out they have also sported a biologically correct appropriate Oriole.

I enjoyed these alternative treatments. My wish would be for him to do Hoopoe // Upupa epops next.
posted by mcstayinskool at 5:52 AM on April 11, 2018 [1 favorite]


I don’t care about baseball, but I do love birds and cartoony illustrations. This is cute and I love it.
posted by defenestration at 6:04 AM on April 11, 2018


As a life-long Baltimorean and Orioles fan, I have never met anyone who preferred the biologically correct Oriole over the cartoon Oriole. There was much rejoicing when he came back.

Oddly, the one thing that bothers me about this is that the hat on the Canada Goose says "G's". Gooses?
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 6:09 AM on April 11, 2018 [2 favorites]


I prefer the biologically correct Oriole logo. But then again, I'm a transplant.
posted by postel's law at 6:35 AM on April 11, 2018


I love this, and want them to branch out into other baseball mascots. I nominate the Richmond Flying Squirrels whose logo is unnecessarily aggro for a cheery minor league team but would be adorable as a retro squirrel cartoon.
posted by a halcyon day at 7:58 AM on April 11, 2018


Yeah, count me as another person who much preferred the biological Oriole logo. The old/current one looks to me as a remnant of the 70s when a lot of teams had *terrible* art as their logos.

When they first brought it back, I thought it was just a retro thing. I cannot believe they actually just decided to start using it again full-time.

That said, this Twitter account is great.
posted by explosion at 8:06 AM on April 11, 2018


it should be pointed out they have also sported a biologically correct appropriate Oriole.

That's the weirdest baseball hat I've ever seen. If I saw it on a random person, I'd guess you belonged to a niche birdwatching group or got it free from the Audubon Society or something.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:47 AM on April 11, 2018


What goes around, comes around. When the Orioles opened OPACY in 1992, Glenn Davis was going to lead the team to glory, with all the players wearing caps and helmets with the ornithologically accurate logo. It didn't quite work out that way. I distinctly remember the disdain for the cartoon logo and the praise for the ornithologically accurate one in the "Why Not?" 1989 season and shortly thereafter. The 0-21 start to the 1988 season surely played a role in fostering that sentiment. Other than the 1996 and 1997 playoff teams, it's hard for me to think fondly about any Orioles team that had the ornithologically accurate logo. Long live the cartoon logo!
posted by cheapskatebay at 8:49 AM on April 11, 2018


I like both logos. Don’t they alternate?

I live in another bird-baseball city, where our logo is a stylized severed head with a leaf stuck on randomly to remind us it’s our nation’s only team now. Biological or cartoony, anything’s better than that.

Also, it should be noted that many of the birds in this piece are actually in use by minor league teams, many of whom would welcome a non-shitty logo.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:06 AM on April 11, 2018


I think it’s great that he did the puffin in both white light and UV versions
posted by TedW at 10:07 AM on April 11, 2018 [1 favorite]


Where is toucan? I am disappoint.
posted by Horkus at 11:40 AM on April 11, 2018


Never mind. Who can? Toucan!
posted by Horkus at 11:42 AM on April 11, 2018 [2 favorites]


As a fan of The U, I'm necessarily a fan of the ibis.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 1:52 PM on April 11, 2018


Haha the spoonbill. Very spoon.

My boyfriend was disappointed that there was not a Tawny Frogmouth in the mix. It would just stand in the outfield and wait for pop flies to fall into its glove.
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:38 PM on April 11, 2018


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