As a lifelong Clevelander I say this with honesty and love for my city and the people in it: I believe that The Browns moved to Baltimore in 1995, re-named and re-branded; drafted and developed a handful of Hall of Fame players, won two Super Bowls over the next decade or so; and never came back home. With complete respect to the brave players and coaches that have worked and tried their hardest within a myriad of different impossible systems to succeed, the organization that returned to Cleveland in 1999 has been, well; not good. It’s certainly not the same team that left town in 1995 and has fascinated me in all the wrong ways since then. That combined histories of The Browns and Ravens, coupled with a historically worst streak of losses would suggest that re-naming and branding this organization would lay the foundation for a better future of Cleveland pro football.

The conceptual new identity that I commissioned myself to design is inspired by the statues of the Guardians of Transportation that watch over the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, linking both sides of Cleveland. The statues were created in the spirit of progress in transportation. With additional logos that cue off the Cleveland city flag as well, The Cleveland Guardians’ identity signifies progress, pride and building a bridge to new generations of fans that have been lost via decades of losing and an evolving culture.