Oh So Fresh

So a few months ago I published a postcard I designed for TAMUCC's New Student Orientation. Finally we have the unveiling of the T-Shirt that will be given out to all the new freshmen (about 2,000 in total).

This is a t-shirt I've had in the back of head for a few years now. It's a complete play on words. From a distance, the shirt reads 'So FRESH' (as you can obviously see for yourself). But, if you look closely, the word 'man' is in the bottom corner of the 'H'. If you put two and two together, the shirt read 'So FRESHMAN'....perfect for any first year college student. Just click on the shirt to see an upclose view.

Enjoy and have a great Friday!

June = New Logo Month

So here I am again posting about new logos.  It seems like summer is the time for sports teams to ditch their old identities and completely get a new one. 

Today I not only have one rebranded identities, but two.  Ok, so the second one isn't so much of a rebrand as it is a 'color' update....but it's a new one none-the-less. 

First up we have the Nashville Predators of the NHL.





I think this rebrand is really smart. The Predators already had a strong logo, just needed a little bit of an update and pushed into the modern era. Don't fix what isn't broke.  The 'Preds' did just that. Loose the chrome touch, dull down the detail, use just your primary colors and call it a day.  Well done.  I'm not one for owning sports jerseys.  Just depending on what we see from Reebok, this would look great framed, mounted on on the wall in my sports cage.

As for the logo, also VERY smart.  Go super simple.  The previous logo while pretty sweet and unique wasn't really equipped to be shoulder patch logo.  It need to be used as a 'front and center' logo.  The new logo incorporates 3 basic items.  First a guitar pick, which makes perfect sense considering Nashville's tie to Country music.  You also have a simplified piece of the new abbreviated mark, plus a link to Tennessee's state flag.  The logo isn't bold and doesn't blow you away, but it's smart and will look great on a jersey.

Next up is the New York Knicks.



Yes, obviously not earth-shattering. In fact, if they weren't next to each other, probably wouldn't be able to tell the different right away. But it a pretty solid improvement. I think the important thing here is that the wordmark 'pops' a lot more. It doesn't get lost in the shadow as much as it did.  Overall nice touch.

Hopefully, there won't be many more of these the rest of the summer.

I'll have a few new projects up soon including a new logo and website for a local Corpus Christi business, new brochure design, not to mention the entire marketing suite of the IceRays for the 2011-2012 (including new tickets, program, website and schedules).  Stay tuned.

Paging Doctor.....

Recently, I was approached about doing a t-shirt for the Cardiac Unit at Christus Spohn Shoreline here in Corpus Christi.  I've done a lot of health-related t-shirts in the past, but this one I got to us my imagination with a bit more than I had in the past.

Click on the image below to view the shirt as a whole. Enjoy! 

Logo Review: Washington Wizards

I've been meaning to put this design nugget up for a while and just haven't had the chance...but luckily, I'm finally getting to it.

In case you haven't heard, the Washington Wizards, after having one of the worst logo in the NBA for 9 seasons, got a somewhat new logo and brand. You can see some of the logos and items below.




In my opinion, the Wizards missed a HUGE opportunity here. 

I have never cared for the Wizards primary logo very much.  I think it's one of the poorer logos in all of the NBA (right up there with the Charlotte Bobcats).  So needless to say I was pretty disappointed to see that the Microsoft Clipart-styled Merlin was returning, just with new colors.  If you look closely you will notice that the width of the logo was taken in a bit, but besides that, the logo has remained unchanged.  I think this was a pretty major mistake.

What is even more perplexing is the remaining logos.  From a branding point, I don't think any of it goes together.  You have a really crisp set of word marks and an alternate logo (that goes a long with it).  Then you on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have a 'DC' logo out of the 70's that is nearly identical to the old Bullets Logo.  In addition you have uniforms that go with that old vintage sty;e look.  Then, you throw in the new revamped 'wizard' and none of it makes much sense.  It looks like it's Thursday night and you're making a big pot of leftover stew.  In 3 complete different styles turned into one.

I get the whole 'let's return to the glory days.'  Vintage is in right, I understand, but the brand is being pulled in too many directions.  In my opinion, it seems like the saw the 76's move last off-season, saw its success and thought 'hey, we can do that, but make it even better.'  In this situation, I think they tried a little too hard and went a little too over the top.

The Wizards need to rewind and and scrap the wizard all together.  Loose it, it's going nowhere.  Start with your wordmarks and alternate logo.  Those are solid and the direction you need to head.  I don't mind the National Monument reference.  I think it's important for teams to show some sense of community.  From there, design a completely new primary logo and different uniforms.  Given the style of the logo, I think you could something a bit edgier like what the Hawks have.

If you're going to do a redesign, do a redesign.  You can't recycle a logo unless it's awesome to begin with.

But I do have some optimism. I wouldn't be a bit surprised in the next few seasons, or even this one for that matter, for the Wizard to get thrown in the back seat.  I think it's very possible that you will see the alternate take over and the Wizards to use their 'DC' mark and basketball more than the 'lanky Harry Potter with a beard.'  This switch would be similar to what the Blue Jackets of the NHL did a few years back when then alternate logo became their primary. 

So to recap....do I like the new brand?  Well, I guess it's an improvement.  Do I think it's one of the best in the NBA?  I defiantly wouldn't go that far, but it is better than what they had.

In the coming months, I hope to do more of these reviews and have new logo updates.  Eventually, (when things slow down a bit), I would like do some Sport Logo Concepts of my own.  I may even start with this one.  But we'll have to see if time allows.

Hot Off The Presses

Right now is a usually a pretty busy time of year.  In addition to doing my normal freelancing work, now is the time I work on all of the new IceRays promotional materials such as pocket & magnet schedules, ticket booklets, re-haul the website, etc.

One project I've been wanting to do for a long time is mock-up a new logo for a unique program the IceRays run called 'The Intern.'  Essentially, it works just like NBC's Apprentice, but with hockey team interns instead.

Luckily, I had some down time tonight and wanted a quick project that I could knock-out and this one came to mind.

The update isn't earth-shattering from what it was before, but it is new.  I've been playing around quite a bit with fades and gradients and knew this was the perfect place to experiment a little bit more.  To some designers this is a big no-no when it comes to logos....but in my opinion, there's a place for everything.  Enjoy.