Red and blue, which are probably the most popular colors in the sports logo design, have adopted a unique and recognizable look in the National Premier Soccer League logo. How has the designer achieved this result?
To begin with, he steered clear of the shade of blue used on the US flag and opted for a more muted, greyish part of the palette. Red, by contrast, is more vivid and lighter than the one used on the flag. Also, a cool metallic shade of grey has been added to the design. Not only does it help to make the palette more distinctive, but it also adds some dimension to the NPSL logo and creates the illusion of shades.
The National Premier Soccer League visual identity, introduced in 2003, boasted a sleek modern badge in the blue, red, and white color palette, with the top part circular, and bottom — rectangular. The upper part of the logo featured a blue and white image of a football, enclosed into a thick blue frame with the narrowed uppercase inscription in white sans-serif letters. The image was separated from the frame by a double circular outline in white and red. As for the bottom part of the badge, it was taken by a solid blue banner with four solid white five-pointed stars set above the massive “NPSL” abbreviation in dark red letters with a thin white outline.
The central, circular, part of the previous logo was brought to the new badge, designed for the league in 2016. The blue and white ball got its contours modernized and refined, and was now set on a solid blue shield with its upper part colored red and containing the white extended sans-serif “NPSL” inscription. The image of the football was “covered” by the arched “National Premier Soccer League” inscription in a narrowed yet bold sans-serif font, and underlined by four five-pointed stars in a delicate and calm shade of gray.