Ah, the off-season is fun isn't it? When you're all in on FC Dallas during the winter there sometimes isn't a lot to talk about... so we often turn to off field topics.

We've talked a little bit of late about how FC Dallas hasn't managed to penetrate the Metroplex sports consciousness as much as we all might like. Part of why that is might be the team's branding.

The name FC Dallas, while of a classic soccer style and one that in 100 years is going to be great, right now is hard for some casual American sports fans to wrap their head around. Without tigers, panthers, or rangers in the name some fans are at a loss for what the call the team. I've even heard people call them FC, like FC is a mascott... confusion abounds.

Early on, for about a year, FC Dallas was pushing Hoops as a nickname that went with the hoop jerseys. But that was quickly and quietly dropped by the club after too many people asked if they were a basketball team. At 3rd Degree we've tried some other names on for size (some serious, some not): Toros, Huntsmen, Los Moos.

Queen's Park Rangers, a.k.a. QPR. (Queen's Park Rangers)

One slang name that has stuck with fans and media alike is the simplified three letter "FCD." There are a few other clubs that have become almost synonymous with a three letter acronym, some even going so far as to make a logo incorporating the tri-letter name.

So I would like to suggest that FCD embrace and run with that identifier and go so far as to make a secondary logo for the FCD nickname to use on some merchandise, in promotions, and perhaps in some media.

First some background.

Every team in MLS has at least three logos already.

1. The primary logo or badge.

2. Their wordmark.

3. The MLS shield colorized to the specific club.

Ok, maybe that last one is a stretch as a useful logo, but it is part of the league's branding. You don't see it much except on the league website or on some FCD gear in place of the league logo. It's purpose is to be used as the league logo while maintaining the local clubs branding colors.

In case you don't know what a wordmark is, it's the specific trademarked way a club writes it's name. You might recognize this one from the Cowboys:

Dallas Cowboys workdmark (Dallas Cowboys)

Anyway here they are the three logos for FC Dallas

FC Dallas wordmark (top), primary badge (left), and MLS recolor badge (Right). (FCD Communications / FCD Communications)

So, let's make a tri-letter FCD logo for FC Dallas.

I asked a graphics guy to take a run at it. This is mostly for fun and to promote the idea in this space. FCD would want to make their own of course.

Here's a clean modern look that @justinc came up with. He even went so far as to put it on fabric like setup. Nice work Justin.

An FCD tri-letter logo on a shirt like material. (@justinc / 3rd Degree)

I also googled "FCD logo" and it gave us a whole bunch of stuff called FCD, including other football clubs. I picked out a few to show... Some of these I have no idea what they are, this is about the three letter design idea.

1 / 7FC Deisenhofen(FC Deisenhofen) 2 / 7Franklin Country Distilleries(Franklin Country Distilleries) 3 / 7Faculty of Capacity Development(Faculty of Capacity Development) 4 / 7Fédération du commerce et de la distribution(Fédération du commerce et de la distribution) 5 / 7FC Dietikon(FC Dietikon) 6 / 7Fusion Computer Development. Inc(Fusion ComputerDevelopment. Inc) 7 / 7La fédération des clubs de la Défense(La fédération des clubs de la Défense)

Maybe the best and easiest option would be for FCD to use their own wordmark cut down.

A FCD tri-code logo taken from the club's wordmark. (Buzz Carrick / 3rd Degree)

Nice. That would look nice on some merch. I'd certainly rep it on a hat or shirt.

So what do you think? Would a tri-letter logo make sense for FC Dallas? Want to take a shot at one?

Hit us up with yours on twitter.