ST. GEORGE, Utah — Three St. George graphic designers who critique logos on YouTube say the Utah 2034 Winter Olympics logo has hidden elements that represent the state's landmarks, though they're mixed on whether it captures Utah's identity.
Jeffrey Thain, Kyle Kelsch and Matt Gubler of Geezy Tees got into graphic design together while still in high school. Kelsch started what is now a graphic design and screen printing company about eight years ago, and last year they moved into new space on Tabernacle Street in St. George.
The name is derived from “St. Geezy,” which is a name for the city used by Gen Z. Geezy is pronounced with a soft, rather than hard, “G."
There, they started a YouTube channel where they critique sports, corporate and other logos. The videos have received between 10,000 and 80,000 views.
"We're a graphic design and screen printing company. We specialize in promotional product printing and it's kind of the gist of what we do," Kelsch said.
The trio recently analyzed Utah's 2034 Winter Olympics logo, which was introduced in November a little over a year after Salt Lake City was awarded its second-ever Winter Games.
Gubler said effective sports logos connect to their location and community.
"I think a lot of it is these sports teams are so heavily oriented around the city they're from. I think anytime they can pull that logo from the area that they're around and the people that they're trying to appeal to, I just feel like that's going to give you the best chance," Gubler said.
When comparing the new logo to the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics design, Thain said the current version feels more modern.
"I mean, you look at the old like 2002 Utah Olympics logo. And to me, that one feels almost like what you'd expect from a logo for a Utah Olympics theme, which I'm not saying it's a bad logo. I think it's a great logo. But I feel like the newer one kind of is almost paying homage to the kind of granola feel that Utah is kind of known for," Thain said.
Gubler noted the logo contains hidden elements, similar to the arrow in the FedEx logo. He said the designers incorporated Utah landmarks into the lettering.
"I think a lot of like what they say represents Utah are kind of some of the natural forms of letters that are supposed to kind of match up with landmarks in Utah. We were talking about how the A does somewhat represent the delicate arch," Gubler said.
"But they have some other elements in there that are a little bit harder to see. I know in one section they have a part of the logo that's supposed to represent like a mountain pass road. And then when you see kind of their inspiration image next to the logo, it's a little bit harder to see."
While some have criticized the logo for not including "Salt Lake City" in the text, Kelsch said using just "Utah" makes sense from a branding perspective.
"I think what also makes sense is I think the Utah brand overall has become a lot better over years versus the Salt Lake City or the Park City brand. I think Utah has become a really great state overall of the 50 states, it's definitely set itself apart," Kelsch said.
The designers also discussed what would make a good logo for a St. George sports team. Gubler referenced a former minor league baseball team.
"Back in the day, they used to have the St. George Road Runners, which was a minor league baseball team. And I thought that was about perfect. I mean, it's hard to go outside and not see a roadrunner. We have them on the street," Gubler said.
"Roadrunner is also a name you don't really see anywhere else here. There's like no Roadrunner screen printing or Roadrunner insurance, you know? It's an untapped market."
The Utah 2034 committee has said the current logo is temporary and an actual logo will be released in 2029.
Kelsch questioned whether the temporary designation came after public criticism.
"Honestly, I'd be curious to know if they said it was temporary after all of the comments and for lack of better words, backlash. Because I'm sure you wouldn't want to spend all that money or time," Kelsch said.
