The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team’s visual identity underwent a major transformation in 2014, shifting from a cartoon tornado mascot character to a more streamlined lettermark design.
Design and History
In August 2014, the Cyclones unveiled a sweeping rebrand developed in partnership with Cincinnati-based agency LPK. The new identity included a logo, updated team colors, and a complete uniform overhaul. The updated color scheme featured red, black, and gunmetal gray, highlighted across the team’s three uniform combinations.[1]
The new primary logo consists of a large black and white letter “C” with a red, black, and silver cyclone depicted in the middle.[2] The design marked a deliberate departure from the franchise’s previous identity, which had featured a cartoon tornado character named Twister, described as a hockey stick-wielding, toothless tornado. That character had been part of the franchise’s iconography since 1996, when the team competed in the International Hockey League.[3]
Cyclones Director of Marketing Sean Lynn described the new mark as “an evolution of the Cyclones Hockey brand,” noting that the team considered the hockey element and the organization’s broader entertainment identity when developing the design.[1] The rebrand was accompanied by a redesigned team website and updated fan merchandise.[4]
While the cartoon Twister character was removed from the primary logo, he remained the team’s mascot after the redesign.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The prominent letter “C” in the current logo represents both Cincinnati and Cyclones. The cyclone shape at the center of the letter was noted by observers as the first logo in franchise history to depict an actual cyclone, as opposed to the tornado imagery used in earlier marks.[5]
The 2014 redesign was widely characterized as a shift from a “goofy, kid-friendly cartoon character to a simpler, more professional lettermark.”[3] The team retained its signature red while adding black and gunmetal gray to the palette.[4]
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