Some years ago, in the modern/Open era, the U.S. Open ball/flame logo was introduced. It was a refreshing, very hip, almost prescient, tattoo approach to a 'ball in motion' graphic. It was successful in its absence of extraneous, precious detail (even eliminating the periods after U and S). This logo/icon lockup held up solidly in may sizes and applications.
Then at some point in the modern, Nike era, (that being the dark times in branded America when the Nike swoosh became the hip-vernacular graphic) the swoosh began to make its ubiquitous appearance as an attachment/add-on to many existing brands (this the subject of a later, more detailed post).
So, yes, the US OPEN too, just couldn't help themselves, tacking on a swoosh/half oval that wrapped around the right side of what was an already pleasingly balanced brand. (below)
To add insult to injury, other elements were added in the absence and violation of any clear space criteria, often with a multitude of fonts, making matters worse for the clutter.
Because the swoosh tail is thinner, and it is connected to and running into the ball, the implication is that it is the trail of the ball as it zoomed up from that thinner arc. But if that were the case the arc would be on the flame side...
The more the merrier...
Perhaps the worst offense to the original, core brand element, was the insertion of a flag motif into the flame, eroding it's look/feel and, especially on a white background, negating the flame shape entirely. It begins to look like a New England Patriots logo that exploded. When will they learn: it is best to leave well enough alone?
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