OTP Bank-PICK Szeged is a Hungarian professional handball club based in Szeged, competing in the K&H férfi kézilabda liga and the EHF Champions League. The club has been known under several names since its founding in 1961, adopting the Pick Szeged name in 1993 when the Szeged-based food company Pick became its main sponsor. In 2022 the club was renamed OTP Bank-Pick Szeged after the bank became the naming sponsor, though the club president confirmed the crest would remain unchanged. [1] [2]
Design and History
The club’s current visual identity dates to a major rebranding in 2011, introduced alongside a structural change in which Pick became the majority owner of the club and a new company, Pick Kézilabda, was established to run it. [3] The new logo was based on the naming sponsor’s original emblem. [4]
According to a detailed contemporary report from the Hungarian news site Szeged Ma, the redesign removed the previous shield and the hand holding a stitched ball drawn in the style of the 1970s. In their place, the traditional red “Pick” letter P with its green outline was transformed into a stylized figure leaping to throw a modern handball. Below the figure, the words “SZEGED” and “handball team” (or “kézilabdacsapat” on the Hungarian version) appear in two lines in indigo blue, set within a lighter blue oval frame from which the handball figure partially emerges. Above the frame, gold stars indicate the number of Hungarian championship titles won, which at the time numbered two. The emblem is designed on a white background by default. [4]
The 2011 rebranding was part of a broader modernization effort that also included plans to update the club’s website and press facilities. [4] The club’s naming history includes Szegedi Előre, Szegedi Építők, Szegedi Volán SC, and Tisza Volán SC before the Pick Szeged era began in 1993. [1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The gold stars above the emblem are documented as representing the club’s Hungarian championship titles, with two stars shown at the time of the 2011 redesign. [4] The club has since won additional championships, and its official website currently lists five Hungarian championship titles. [5]
The blue color associated with the club and its fans has been described in connection with the Tisza river that flows through Szeged, though this interpretation comes from an interior design studio’s description of the Pick Aréna rather than from the club’s own brand documentation. [6]
Typography and Design
The 2011 logo uses two different typefaces for the “SZEGED” and “handball team” or “kézilabdacsapat” text lines, both rendered in indigo blue. [4] According to the club’s brand manual referenced in the same report, the numbers and names on team jerseys continued to use the previously established typeface after the redesign. [4]
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