Luleå HF, the professional ice hockey club from Luleå, Sweden, is known for its circular club emblem featuring a hockey player raising his stick above his head, a mark popularly called “Stålmannen” (The Steel Man). The nickname derives from Luleå’s reputation as “Stålstaden” (The Steel City).[1]
Design and History
The original emblem was created in 1977 by graphic designer Stina Åström, who was commissioned to design a club mark for the newly formed hockey club GroKo Hockey, a predecessor of Luleå HF.[2] Åström, a Konstfack-educated graphic designer, was given free rein in the assignment. She chose the colors black, yellow and red, explaining that she wanted something that would signal a winning team and that red and yellow are warning colors that make a mark stand out, like traffic signs.[2] The figure on the emblem is a hockey player celebrating a goal, raising his stick above his head, a gesture Åström chose because “Luleå ska ju göra mål” (Luleå is supposed to score goals).[2]
In 1994, the club replaced Stålmannen with a new emblem featuring a bear.[3] In 2011, the club introduced an updated version of the bear logo, a change that was widely criticized by fans and media as a failure.[4] The 2011 redesign was handled by the advertising agency Vinter.[5]
In 2018, after a supporter survey conducted by brand expert and board member Niklas Turner Olovzon, the club decided to return to Stålmannen as its official club symbol, effective September 1, 2018.[3][6] In the survey, 49.7 percent of supporters favored the original Stålmannen symbol, while 46.2 percent wanted to keep the bear.[7] The bear emblem remained as a complement, and red was retained as the club’s main color.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
Åström has stated that the black background in the emblem is meant to represent a hockey puck.[1] The club itself has described its original symbol as representing that the club is “a club for everyone” and that it stands for equal development strength.[3]
Typography and Design
Åström has noted that a logo should be simple, not too complicated, and use colors that stand out.[2] The emblem’s figure is rendered in a bold, graphic style typical of late-1970s sports crest design, with the player’s silhouette and raised stick forming the central motif within a circular frame.
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