Otto redesign

[rrlbees]

cto can correct me on this but a few of the board admins got together a long time ago to brainstorm a logo for the board for something people on the board wanted to buy. I think it was t-shirts but I could be wrong on that.

We were doing War Damn Otto at the end of our posts a lot at the time. Maybe not we. Maybe just me. That was inspired by visits to the site from Auburn fans, who all seemed to end their posts here with

'Damn Damn Eagle!'

Anyway, 'War Damn Otto' got me thinking about what Otto would look like if he went to war. We talked about that and ended up with a version of Otto with a Viking helmet, a big axe in one hand and a beer stein in the other.

cto knew a guy on the Boneyard who would draw up the concept and make a proper graphic, which was needed to create the merchandise we will going to brand with this. His name was Tom something. Maybe Tom Dwyer. He created the graphic for us then and it lives to this day.

I believe this was the first time anyone designed an angry version of Otto.

As to when it happened...we played a home and home with Auburn in the early 2000s. The game at Syracuse was played on September 22, 2001 and the game at Auburn was played on September 28, 2002.

The Auburn game at Syracuse was the first game played at the dome post 9/11 and it was a very emotional time for for Syracuse fans and the entire country.

Anyway, the logo was designed in this time frame, which means it is well over 20 years old. That is pretty scary.

Yes it was T-shirt’s. But at least the first version of them said only War Otto. I had to write the word damn on mine.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Yes it was T-shirt’s. But at least the first version of them said only War Otto. I had to write the word damn on mine.

And then the pins came afterwards? I missed out on the Tee, but I wasn't going to miss out on the pin.

 

[All4SU]

These are cool. I like all renditions of Otto - happy, angry, serious, pouty...
There is no such thing as a bad Otto.

Otto Ohrlendorf says “hi.”

 

[rrlbees]

And then the pins came afterwards? I missed out on the Tee, but I wasn't going to miss out on the pin.

May have come out about the same time.

 

[JeremyCuse]

and then there was the Season of the Wolf.

After that debacle I doubt anyone at SU will ever try to change the mascot again.

 

[sutomcat]

May have come out about the same time.

Yes, I think they were just afterwards.

These days we might get into a controversy since SU is very vigilant about protecting its trademarks.

Anyone thinking about ever using SU logos, SU athlete NIL, etc. should reach out to Rachel Duffy to make sure you don't run into problems down the road.

I think they even try and enforce/protect use of the color orange in some cases.

Rachel Duffy - Director of Strategic Partnerships & Licensing - Staff Directory - Syracuse University Athletics

Trademarks.syr.edu Rachel Duffy has served as the Director of Strategic Partnership & Licensing for Syracuse University since August of 2018. Duf...

cuse.com

 

[KaiserUEO]

Yes, I think they were just afterwards.

These days we might get into a controversy since SU is very vigilant about protecting its trademarks.

Anyone thinking about ever using SU logos, SU athlete NIL, etc. should reach out to Rachel Duffy to make sure you don't run into problems down the road.

I think they even try and enforce/protect use of the color orange in some cases.

Rachel Duffy - Director of Strategic Partnerships & Licensing - Staff Directory - Syracuse University Athletics

Trademarks.syr.edu Rachel Duffy has served as the Director of Strategic Partnership & Licensing for Syracuse University since August of 2018. Duf...

cuse.com

Have the shirt and 2 pins, although the shirt has seen better days and is strictly a ‘house’ shirt now for game watching.

Anyway, I also bought a ‘Saltine Warrior’ hat from one of those illegal websites. Flash forward to a ‘Syracuse Day’ at Yankee Stadium, Coughlin is throwing out the 1st pitch etc, I have the Saltine Warrior hat on, with the War Otto pin on it and an unbuttoned Yankee pinstripe jersey (#15 of course) with the War Otto shirt on. I walked into the private party the alumni club was throwing to get a beer or 8 and the SU brass basically had a heart attack!!

The fear is some people’s eyes was a nice counter balance to evil death stares I was getting. Bill Orange was there and he says to me…’yeah, I don’t think your attire is winning over many folks here’. Someone affiliated with Cuse knew Bill Orange so he comes over and says to me…”good lord, your a walking Marketing nightmare!! Any chance you can give me the websites where you bought all that so I can shut them down?” I just laughed, finished a beer or 3 and went out to the hot sun to see TC fire a strike and that was it.

Good times, good times.

FWIW: Go back to this logo…

 

[BKCuse]

I would love to see an Otto helmet and I agree it needs an angrier Otto. But I envision an oversized helmet design like this.

I don’t think we need an across the board redesign of Otto. It’s fine to have a cuddly guy in costume and an angrier version on helmets.

 

[ECE '76]

Otto looking tough instead of cuddly.

But he should NEVER grace the side of our helmets.

We have a SEC coaching staff, we're building a SEC roster, this is NOT the time to do something stupid again with the uniforms (no thank you Daryl G.). Now is the time for classy, classic, traditional. Traditional = Intimidating, when you have the players and team to back it up.

 

[Offthedome]

"Determined Otto" on game days. "Cute Otto" on non game days.
Borkowski is God.

Yes.

 

[bnoro]

Have the shirt and 2 pins, although the shirt has seen better days and is strictly a ‘house’ shirt now for game watching.

Anyway, I also bought a ‘Saltine Warrior’ hat from one of those illegal websites. Flash forward to a ‘Syracuse Day’ at Yankee Stadium, Coughlin is throwing out the 1st pitch etc, I have the Saltine Warrior hat on, with the War Otto pin on it and an unbuttoned Yankee pinstripe jersey (#15 of course) with the War Otto shirt on. I walked into the private party the alumni club was throwing to get a beer or 8 and the SU brass basically had a heart attack!!

The fear is some people’s eyes was a nice counter balance to evil death stares I was getting. Bill Orange was there and he says to me…’yeah, I don’t think your attire is winning over many folks here’. Someone affiliated with Cuse knew Bill Orange so he comes over and says to me…”good lord, your a walking Marketing nightmare!! Any chance you can give me the websites where you bought all that so I can shut them down?” I just laughed, finished a beer or 3 and went out to the hot sun to see TC fire a strike and that was it.

Good times, good times.

FWIW: Go back to this logo…

Ah yes, let's bring back an extremely racist caricature logo!

Can't imagine wearing something like that in public in 2023

 

[DoubleDee]

Ah yes, let's bring back an extremely racist caricature logo!

Can't imagine wearing something like that in public in 2023

I have this tee shirt, and wear it all the time. ‍Never get looks, never get comments.

 

[ECE '76]

To me, Otto's greatest moment came as the blowout game at VaTech was winding down this season. SU getting crushed and embarrassed. Otto walks out of the stadium before the game ends, carrying his little backpack, waving to the crowd and the VT cheerleaders. Absolute CLASSIC !



Kudos to the SU student in the costume that night. Even the USA Today noticed Otto's command performance.

Otto the Orange danced the pain away to Mr. Brightside as Syracuse got pummeled by Virginia Tech

You keep dancing, Otto. You keep dancing.

ftw.usatoday.com

 

[KaiserUEO]

Ah yes, let's bring back an extremely racist caricature logo!

Can't imagine wearing something like that in public in 2023

Well the good news for you is 2023 ends in 3 days.

Make 2024 a GREAT ONE!!

Wear it proud!!

 

[Scooch]

"Not Optimized for Screens"

We've lost so many classic logos over the years to this B. S.

Pat the Patriot, the OG Dolphins logo, etc etc. Now we do these throwback games and the fans are clamoring for the old thing because it was BETTER. Stop redesigning classics.

I know this guy had a project to do, not bashing him.

Yep.

The great thing about the smiling Otto depiction is that it’s old school and organic.

I have no clue who created it, but it was done in the 80s since that depiction was around when I enrolled at SU in 1991.

It looks like a mascot depiction from the 60s. Hand drawn. Detailed. Not some computer generated, slick, smooth, corporate marketing creation.

That look took hold in the 90s and spawned a vast array of logos that look like they all rolled off an assembly line from the same firm.

 

[elimunelson]

Yep.

The great thing about the smiling Otto depiction is that it’s old school and organic.

I have no clue who created it, but it was done in the 80s since that depiction was around when I enrolled at SU in 1991.

It looks like a mascot depiction from the 60s. Hand drawn. Detailed. Not some computer generated, slick, smooth, corporate marketing creation.

That look took hold in the 90s and spawned a vast array of logos that look like they all rolled off an assembly line from the same firm.

This.

The entire mascot industrial complext with Otto is organic. There's no reason to mess around with what is working. No one with half a brain needs additional masculinity, toughness from the mascot side of Syracuse. It's foolish.

The school has already fixed the uniforms 85% of the way. It would be a step back to try and AI the Otto mascot.

I put it in the same category as the Celtics logo. It would never be made today and that's a good thing. Not everything has to go through 13 rounds of marketing teams to get to a consensus.

 

[AngryOtto]

Question

Does Mike borowski sale any illustrations of Syracuse sports? Like to get one of his pieces for my su collection.

 

[GoSU96]

Going to say this again, Otto is a walking plush toy, it is not the school brand image.

So who cares

 

[CuseGrad94]

To me, Otto's greatest moment came as the blowout game at VaTech was winding down this season. SU getting crushed and embarrassed. Otto walks out of the stadium before the game ends, carrying his little backpack, waving to the crowd and the VT cheerleaders. Absolute CLASSIC !



Kudos to the SU student in the costume that night. Even the USA Today noticed Otto's command performance.

Otto the Orange danced the pain away to Mr. Brightside as Syracuse got pummeled by Virginia Tech

You keep dancing, Otto. You keep dancing.

ftw.usatoday.com

I remember being get wrenched watching that live. Not the Otto part, but listening to the commentators talking about teams returning to past glory to make the ACC stronger and not mentioning Cuse. It was deflating.

 

[DoubleDee]

Question

Does Mike borowski sale any illustrations of Syracuse sports? Like to get one of his pieces for my su collection.

Hit him up

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[Killdozer]

To be fair this is a college student doing a project for a class

But it’s cool! I love the cuddly Otto logo fwiw

I'm the opposite, I would never buy merchandise with the current otto logo

 

[SWC75]

Maybe we could base the logo on this guy:

 

[SWC75]

...or this guy:

Otto von Bismarck - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[SuFTW]

Question

Does Mike borowski sale any illustrations of Syracuse sports? Like to get one of his pieces for my su collection.

Michael Borkowski - Contact

I am a freelance illustrator based in Syracuse, NY. I've done sports art for adidas, ESPN, Duke Basketball, Syracuse University Athletics, the NFLPA and many more. I also illustrate children's books for Random House/Little Golden Books. Since 1997 I've been a storyboard artist for animated...

michaelborkowski.com

 

[kcsu]

Maybe Otto should walk out with some Wild animal on a leash. Or have him enter on a horse and pound a hatchet into the ground at the 50. Or blast a cannon
Anyway you get the idea.