Louisville City FC unveils 'abstract' new logo

With more than 100 logo design entries to choose from, the Louisville City Football Club on Sunday unveiled a new crest featuring purple and gold colors with an abstract take on the city's skyline.

Team owner Wayne Estopinal made the announcement for his minor league club, which starts play in 2015 at Louisville Slugger Field, during the U.S.-Portugal watch party at Fourth Street Live.

"I'm sure we're not going to please everybody, but I think the key to this was, we got the community engaged," Estopinal said. "We got many, many entries from professional designers down to an 8-year-old. Clearly, everybody put a great deal of time into these things. They looked great."

Winning designer Michael Manning, 24, is a former high school soccer player at Madison (Ind.) High School. He now lives in New Albany and works at Take Note Designs in La Grange, Ky.

Manning said he used the required design elements, a Fleur-de-lis and bourbon barrel, which serve as "roots of the city" with the skyline above. Buildings included on the crest are Preston Pointe, near Slugger Field, as well as the Aegon Center, National City Tower and Humana Building, from left to right.

"Sports logos are really something I want to do, and a contest like this was a good opportunity for people to see my stuff," said Manning, who studied graphic design at Indiana University Southeast. "A lot of times, you're not going to get noticed unless you do something like this."

Estopinal announced the design competition at a June 4 press conference during which Louisville City FC introduced its new coach and affiliation with the Orlando City Soccer Club, which moves up from USL Pro to Major League Soccer next year. Orlando City's colors are also purple and gold, and the parent club will maintain a stake in its minor league affiliate.

Louisville City's original logo drew ire from the local design community as well as soccer supporters group, The Coopers, who also use a bourbon barrel and Fleur-de-lis on their logo.

Knowing he'd have to use the crest "in so many formats" — as large as billboards and small as a business card — Estopinal called upon a collection of 10-plus designers and team officials to judge the contestants.

"There were about five entries that got a lot of very, very serious discussion," he said. "It wasn't an absolute clear-cut choice, but I think as we started seeing how this was going to be used and everything else, it became a choice everyone was ready to work with."

Manning earned a $500 stipend, tickets to Louisville City's inaugural game and recognition there on the video board and field. Four other finalists, whose entries were not released by the club, will receive $150 stipends

Estopinal said he's had talks with both Nike and adidas about becoming Louisville City FC's apparel provider.

Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199; follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.