Identity Sketches for NYC FC

Until this past Tuesday, it was NY2.

NY2 was a fable; a mythical soccer club whose only identity was the visible will of a determined commissioner and the rustle of dollar bills passing through customs at JFK. As of Tuesday, NY2 is a real club with real qualities. The details and implications will be hashed out elsewhere; what I care about is identity. And NY2 now has an identity: New York City FC.

That’s all we know for sure, of course - the name. We don’t know colors or nicknames or positioning or attitude or anything else. But we can infer some things:

• First, from the club’s managing partners (English soccer’s Manchester City FC and baseball’s New York Yankees) we can infer color (shades of blue), style (ready to splurge, expect to win), and attitude (larger than life).
• From Major League Soccer’s dogged desire to land this club in New York City proper - and the rather grandiose name that’s been chosen - we can infer that NYC FC will be a flagship franchise, and will speak to, and claim to speak for, the entire city.
• Finally, from New York’s endless supply of graphic signifiers, we can infer some visual concepts for the club’s logo, colors and sense of style.

Over two parts, that’s what we’ll explore here. First, in part one, an idea for an NYC FC club logo. Next, in part two, some uniform concepts.

NY2 is now New York City Football Club. Let’s dive in. Tomorrow: Part 1 - the logo.

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