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Auggie

(31,067 posts)
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 02:31 PM Jun 2014

NFL dropping Roman numerals for Super Bowl "L"

It's Super Bowl 50, not L

The NFL will announce on Wednesday that Super Bowl 50 will be graphically represented using numbers instead of Roman numerals, which the league has been using since Super Bowl V in 1971.

It's a one-year break, said Jaime Weston, the league's vice president of brand and creative, done simply because the "L" isn't as pleasing to the eye.

"When we developed the Super Bowl XL logo, that was the first time we looked at the letter 'L,'" Weston said. "Up until that point, we had only worked with X's, V's and I's. And, at that moment, that's when we started to wonder what will happen when we get to 50?"

Weston said her team has been working on the Super Bowl 50 logo since April 2013, having gone through 73 versions. At some point along the way, it was concluded that having the "L" stand alone didn't work.



http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11031941/nfl-take-one-year-hiatus-roman-numerals-super-bowl-50

As a some-time logo designer I was wondering how they would approach this.

"Pleasing to the eye?" Bullshit. L isn't as marketable as 50.

73 versions. That's a lot of frustrating work for even a team of designers. Hope they got paid well.

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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NFL dropping Roman numerals for Super Bowl "L" (Original Post) Auggie Jun 2014 OP
Will be a problem for Super Bowl C then too! n/t trotsky Jun 2014 #1
L I , L II, and L III won't be picnics either Auggie Jun 2014 #4
Do they still teach kids Roman numerals in school?... n/t PoliticAverse Jun 2014 #2
i always thought the NFL was a closet L bigotted enterprise. Leme Jun 2014 #3
Arabic numerals, for the 50th Super Bowl? Thanks muslin Obama!!! arcane1 Jun 2014 #5
This is Arabic for 50: El Supremo Jun 2014 #12
I never was crazy Jamaal510 Jun 2014 #6
Don't forget about Super Bowl CLI.... 't should be interesting. madinmaryland Jun 2014 #7
Then there will be no good reason to learn roman numerals Renew Deal Jun 2014 #8
At least they got Super Bowl XXX out of the way before the porn saturation era BeyondGeography Jun 2014 #9
Computers have killed Roman numerals. bluedigger Jun 2014 #10
They could have gone with SB 110010 for SB 50. hughee99 Jun 2014 #11
Beat it, geek! bluedigger Jun 2014 #13
Worse, and more confusing getting old in mke Jun 2014 #14

Auggie

(31,067 posts)
4. L I , L II, and L III won't be picnics either
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 03:16 PM
Jun 2014

Last edited Wed Jun 4, 2014, 04:59 PM - Edit history (1)

We should really be experiencing the effects of glacial melt by Super Bowl 100. Maybe the design could include a nice water motif.

Jamaal510

(10,893 posts)
6. I never was crazy
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 03:31 PM
Jun 2014

about the roman numeral system, and found it confusing. There probably aren't too many people in the U.S. who are well-versed on roman numerals, anyway.

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