County Crests Redesign

Figment

Hi all, I am just starting to look into this so excuse me if it turns out I am talking out of my arse

The last while I have been working on a selection of t-shirts for each county and I have been working hard on researching the imagery and symbology for each county team.
It is proving pretty difficult to find a definitive record of all the crests however I have been noticing that for some counties there exists two or three different versions of crests. Some I notice are minor updates and refinements while others are a complete departure and bare little resemblance to what came before.

So I have a few questions you can hopefully help me with.

How do I find out what is the most current crest?

Who redesigned them and why? Is it a county board initiative or is it being centrally organised by the GAA (or even O'Neills?). By the varying levels of quality and styles being used I am guessing it is not being centrally organised.

I am suspecting that one of the reasons for a redesign is that the end result is a new copyrightable and licensable image. In one way that is great as it could raise some much needed money for the county team. But is that where the money is going to?
On the other hand is this now excluding the fan base, that helped build and support the GAA over the decades, from using their own team crest?

Where oh where is the quality control? Some of the redesigns are terrible. You cant even argue that the design is subjective thing because at its most basic it needs to work at a small size and be identifiable. Some of them cant even do that.

And finally what about the history? While some of the crests were admittedly getting a little old and rough around the edges they contain imagery and symbology that tell a story of the counties history, mythology and origin. From the colours used, the shape of the crest, the icons used and even the order they are placed. What consideration and consultation, if any, was given to these things. Has this all been lost because some committee somewhere decided he didn't like cats or the colour blue.

So am I talking out or my arse or do I have some valid points and questions?

EDIT: Some examples. http://spoiltch.u59.hosting365.ie/extranet/spoiltchilddesign/sheepstealerclothing/gaa_redesign.jpg

thirdmantackle

they redesigned the crests because they have been copyrighted and are now property of the GAA

homerjk

Well the Monaghan one was changed by the county board after years of complaints because the crest that monaghan were using (the one with the bird) is actually the monaghan town (not the gaa club) crest not the county.

The new one is now supposed to represent the hills of monaghan along with the red hand throw back to the old crest.

Lemlin

They were redesigned to stop people making a cheap buck selling poor imitations of jerseys eg. Penneys making cheap Dublin-style jerseys and selling them in bucketloads.

Figment

Lemlin wrote:

They were redesigned to stop people making a cheap buck selling poor imitations of jerseys eg. Penneys making cheap Dublin-style jerseys and selling them in bucketloads.

Now you mention it i remember hearing something about this. Looks like it was too long ago for google to remember though

rarryboily

hi figment

Was just about to order something from sheepsteelers and i'm being charged €5.90 for delivery because it's coming from germany,i think this is a bit strange and im considering not purchasing now
rarry

Figment

Hi rarry, I don’t wish to turn this thread off topic and into a support one for sheepstealers but please email me at alan@spoiltchild.com and I will try and help.
I am chuffed that you are interested in a shirt
At the moment the t-shirts are being printed to order in Germany. As a small start up business it means few overheads for me in the early stages as I build it up. It does work out more expensive for me in the long term and it means you cannot benefit from local delivery costs unfortunately.
Our long term goals for the business are to build up the range and exposure over the next 6-12 months and get a good handle of demand for each county. We will then be in a position to switch suppliers locally where we will print the shirts up in batches.

I would love to get your valuable feedback on the service and the t-shirt and how we can improve things. If you are not happy with the final shirt I will happily refund you in full including delivery costs.

stepbar

My god 5.90 is not that dear quite cheep TBH BTW ru anything to go whith the sheepstealers.com people??? I certainly hope not, Im from Leitrim!!!!

Figment

We are nothing to do with sheepstealers.com.

stepbar

Dont c nething 4 Leitrim wats goin on!!

Figment

You mean its a real county??!!
Its on its way, finishing off some designs this week.

Crania

Figment, I was just on your site and its really excellent, well done. I really like the clothes, very trendy especially the Down ones! Pity there's no Wexford though. I certainly be telling people about this.

thirdmantackle

I think puckout.com also does some excellent clothing

you have "The Rossies" spelt wrong on the Roscommon clothing

I think you should put the county names in Irish on the back of the shirts

If you had a blue Roscommon contrast shirt, with the hurley/sliotar and Ros Comáin on the back, I would buy it

Figment

Thanks thirdmantackle.

Waylander

stepbar wrote:

My god 5.90 is not that dear quite cheep TBH BTW ru anything to go whith the sheepstealers.com people??? I certainly hope not, Im from Leitrim!!!!

You could probably go to Pennys and buy 2 tee shirts for €5.90. I think it is a bit excessive for a light piece of clothing and I would not pay it. Sorry figment, not trying to have a go or start a row, just giving some feedback.

Figment

No problem at all Waylander, we all have our budgets.
When i want a few cheap t-shirts i go to Pennys my self

Waylander

It is not really a budget issue Figment, I just never take being ripped off well. You must be making a profit on the shipping of those T-shirts?

Figment

Waylander wrote:

You must be making a profit on the shipping of those T-shirts?

I have no control over the shipping cost and I dont see a single cent of it.

Figment

Waylander wrote:

I just never take being ripped off well.

Waylander, that is a harsh and uncalled for insinuation.
You view the T-shirts as being outside of your value range and that is fine, I respect that.
However you then compare the mass produced generic designed shirts of pennies against the high quality cotton shirts, and custom county designs (in my mind damn good designs) of Sheepstealers (shirts that you have never even seen, to compare) and insinuate that they are a rip off!

Feedback is appreciated but please make it useful and based on some real world comparison so I can take it on board.

Waylander

Figment you are correct it was a bit harsh, and apologies for that. I actually do not have a problem with the Tshirts or the pricing policy for them, and I do quite like the designs. My issue is with the packaging costs, I have a pet hate for people who make a profit out of selling one thing and then whack a couple of quid onto their delivery costs in order to generate more profit. I realise you are not a massive offender here, someone like Dell for example really p*ss me off, but I find it hard to believe that that is the lowest delivery price you could get, surely even registered post would be cheaper then that price? T-shirts after all weigh bugerall.

stepbar

Yes I suppose u could stuff them in an envelope alrite and give it an ould press on the iron.....:rolleyes: I suggest that you have a look around on a few other websites that sell clothing before you pass comment again

stepbar

Im defending u!!!! 6eur is quite adequate I was being sarcastic to the other lad apologies if it came across as slagging u

Waylander

Misunderstood your post Stepbar, apologies, have deleted my last post.

ifah

to get back on topic - I know for a fact that the new Galway Hurling Crest was redesigned in conjunction with Gaelic Gear and is now copyright to Galway Hurling Board - the old crest was copy righted by O'Neills and could not be used last year when Galway hurlers moved to using Gaelic Gear gear.

Figment

ifah wrote:

to get back on topic - I know for a fact that the new Galway Hurling Crest was redesigned in conjunction with Gaelic Gear and is now copyright to Galway Hurling Board - the old crest was copy righted by O'Neills and could not be used last year when Galway hurlers moved to using Gaelic Gear gear.

That makes a lot of sense. I would be very worried if a commercial entity owned the copyright to a counties identity. At the same time, in many ways I believe O'Neills have done great things in developing and raising the image of the game while waiting for the counties boards to catch up. Even if it was for commercial reasons.

Was there not some restriction on county teams using gear other then O'Neills? Or has that now changed?

Figment

Does anyone know what design firms were involved in the redesigns?

WhatsGoingOn

Figment, on the front of your site you have a man wearing a t-shirt with 'black & amber' written on it, but this is not available anywhere on the site. Is it possible to buy one of these?
Cheers.

Figment

It will be up soon.

Crania

Figment I was just on your site and I thought it was really great. Something that was very much needed, the t-shirts are very trendy(unlike most gaa jerseys!). Well done. Now if only you got some Wexford t-shirts.....

ifah

The restriction in relation to Gear worn by GAA affiliated teams is that the gear must be produced solely within the 32 counties - this was a rule passed many years ago to promote home commerce and supporting local companies. For many years O'Neills were the only large player in the market (especially after Connolly Sports in Galway stopped manufacturing gear). It's only in the last 5 years that Azzurri and Gaelic Gear setup in Ireland. GG in the North and Azzurri down in Waterford. Footwear (boots) are the only gear that does not come under this restriction.

There was talk a few years back about Nike taking the GAA to the European Court for engaging in an anti-competitive practice by enforcing this rule in that it contravenes the spirit of the EU Open Market but it never progressed as far as i know.

With regard to the redesign of the Galway crest it was done by the Designers in Gealic Gear with input from Galway Hurling Board personnel.

hth

Figment

Cool, Thanks ifah.

Alan

AdrianR

Hi Figment,

Had a look at your site some nice designs, re the LM t shirts orange is an odd colour for an LM shirt, same colours as Donegal would have made more sense.

Down designs are good. Is the Armagh one with the three apples supposed to represent a fruit machine? 3 or 4 apples on a fruit machine background would sell I reckon.

billyhkc

Hello,
Can you contact me regarding the gaa county crests.
I am new to this so I have no clue how it works.

Thanks

Billy

Browney7

You probably should have started a new thread tbh