In keeping with Super Bowl tradition, FOX released their new NFL graphics package.

They were immediately met with INSANE backlash over their score bug.

Most posts only echo the collective anger, but why doesn't this work?

Let's dive in.

Clearly the goal was to not just go with a minimalist design, but an ultra-minimalist design. I'm guessing the intent is to maintain the viewer's focus on the game by removing traditional graphical elements.

This ultra-minimalism especially stands out compared to FOX's past Super Bowl score bugs.

FOX only arranges football scoreboard information in a straight line or in the famous "FOX Box."

For better or worse, FOX split the difference and went with a brutally minimal hybrid.

The Good

Kerning

The kerning of the K and C as well as the P and H were well done. Great attention to a subtle detail.

Possession indicator

In keeping with the ultra-minimalist design, through most of the game there is no graphical element that only indicates the score.

Quite a difference from Super Bowl LIV, where FOX used a dot (that later evolved to the shape of a football.)

The new layout vaguely resembles NBC's graphics package, where the down-and-distance "moves" to whichever team has possession.

FOX took it one step further and added the play clock to the down-and-distance.

There's a problem with FOX's implementation of this philosophy, but more on that later.

Alignment

The various elements align fairly well, especially compared to CBS's disaster from Super Bowl LV.

The Bad (and the Ugly)

People complained about the "missing" team logos in the score bug, but it's not like this isn't how FOX usually does it.

Let's look at a few areas FOX could focus on to improve.

Design Philosophy

These frames are taken right after AJ Brown's touchdown.

Consider the design styles of these elements:

• The score bug is ultra-minimal
• The AJ Brown graphic is a comic book-inspired design
• The word "TOUCHDOWN" is 3D and rendered in a separate environment from the game or the AJ Brown graphic

These conflicting designs don't blend together well; they create visual tension for the viewer.

Proportions

As a friend put it, "It’s simultaneously too big and too small, too basic and too cluttered."

What's the philosophy behind what's italicized and what's not? Beats me. 🤷🏻‍♂️

And I'm curious why they made the play clock slightly larger than the down-and-distance.

The font size for "2nd" quarter is not same as "2nd & 8"

And what's going on here?

These three yellow boxes are the same height. FOX made the player name, player stats and only the quarter number the same height.

There is a subtle difference between 2nd and 2ND. FOX went with the former and chose small caps.

This creates space between "ND" and the game clock, which does not exist between the player name and player stats.

If they made everything All Caps, this subtle tension disappears.

Timeouts left indicator

Look at the frame below and tell me how many timeouts each team has.

Now how about this frame?

The timeouts left indicator should be seen regardless of what color the end zone is painted.

(And it's not like we haven't learned earlier this season how important it is to know how many timeouts you have left...)

Bears fire Matt Eberflus following timeout disaster at end of Chicago’s Thanksgiving loss to Lions

Eberflus lasted less than three years in the Windy City

CBSSports.comBryan DeArdo

Possession indicator

When a team has the ball but doesn't have a down-and-distance, such as during a punt or two-point attempt, FOX moves the possession indicator below the team's abbreviation.

Like the timeouts left indicator, it can be very hard to read depending on what the graphic is overlaying.

(Pass) Interference

The entire point of a score bug is to....see the score.

Yet the score is constantly being interrupted by the camera.

For instance, when the ball is spotted on the near hashmark, the bottom of the camera's frame will align with the chains, like this:

Look at how the down marker on the field interjects between a team's abbreviation and their score.

And here, it interjects between a team and their player's stats.

Also, the color of the chains conflict with a team's red color. Ironic given the Kansas City Chiefs were in this Super Bowl.

I'm concerned this might be especially difficult for those with color blindness, which has been a problem in past NFL broadcasts...

The main reason it doesn't work

The entire score bug is not anchored.

Take a look at the score bug for Super Bowl XLVI.

NBC added a slightly opaque, rectangular "anchor" at the bottom the screen.

This ties both the NBC logo and the score bug to the bottom of the screen.

Look at how Fox's score bug would look if they implemented the same concept.

So much better!

Final thoughts

I would have loved to see FOX's creative team balance their passion for minimalism with a structured and cohesive visual presentation.

As it is, the current iteration of the graphic package too closely resembles a high school football game and not the premier American sports broadcast.

Hopefully FOX can get this right for the fall.

I recently started following Ryan Badger on X and have been fascinated watching him build an e-commerce platform in ShopRocket.com by himself 🤯

Ryan shares a lot of his thought processes on X, and I became particularly intrigued by this recent post.

Here's a better look at the options. The "left" is the current design of the site.

(I helped my wife setup a Shopify for her business a few years ago, so I'm approaching this from the perspective of both a design rhetoric and a potential customer.)

So...left or right?

I didn't particularly gravitate towards either option...but why?

Let's start with the first thing that jumped out at me.

There are four areas with a focus on credibility.

One or two would be fine, but four is redundant and makes me wonder if the site is legitimate since they have to keep telling me they're legitimate.

Up next, examine the top right of the page.

If I've never heard of or seen ShopRocket, I'm not ready to hop into the crazy world of Discord servers and 'join the community' because I don't even know who you are (yet).

An active, passionate community of entrepreneurs is quite appealing to sellers like me, which is why I think it works better further down the page/funnel.

Lastly—and maybe most important?—I don't feel the ShopRocket brand comes through above-the-fold.

Part of the appeal of a site called ShopRocket is the speed at getting my store up-and-running.

I can't point to any design elements that indicate speed.

Someone standing in front of plants doesn't communicate that to me.

I do like how the angle at the bottom of the hero image incorporates a sense of motion and a subtle "cutting edge."

But the overall design doesn't resemble the velocity of a rocket.

How to improve in 30 minutes?

After a quick half hour adjusting the overall layout and messaging, here's where we landed.

First, I kept most of H1 but adjusted the copy to force the eye to read "Start selling [in] five minutes."

1. It's clear and actionable; two traits valued by entrepreneurs.
2. "Start selling" is more important and appealing than commands to copy/paste
3. Adding "...on your site in..." made the next part a lot easier...

People don't read; they scan.

I needed to quickly emphasize the features that ShopRocket has that other competitors don't.

Take a look at that last feature: No transaction fees!

That's amazing!

Now compare that to Shopify's pricing... 😬

I still needed to help incorporate the brand, but I didn't have much time left.

I opted to expand on the "up, up, and away" angle from the top right of the ShopRocket logo. This layout puts the seller in the rocket, which is a perfect metaphor.

A few things I'd change if I had more time.

1. Incorporate more visual elements to emphasize the site's speed
2. Adding back the phrases "shopping cart" or "fully responsive" from the original copy...might good for SEO?
3. Nitpicking, but the three words in yellow in the checklist says "fast, easy, ever." Maybe "fast, easy, forever" makes more sense? Could be improved.

Final thoughts

I love what Ryan's building with ShopRocket. This was just a personal exercise, so I look forward to seeing what changes he makes.

What do you think? Reach out to me on X and let's chat 💬

With the recent rebranding of SAGU Sports Network to Nelson University Sports Network, I am always looking for ways to help reinforce the new identity.

With Nelson's teams competing a few days before and after Christmas, I created several holiday/wintery wallpapers with the new NUSN logo front-and-center for the players, coaches, and fans to feel connected to both the holiday season as well as the team they play for and support.

Phone

Desktop

Ironically, we ended up getting snow a few weeks later (in Texas!) during one of our basketball broadcasts. Our sideline reporter recorded some footage during halftime, and we created a quick bumper as we entered the second half.

Worked with Jonathan Evans again to create to create an animated school logo for the new jumbotron at Knights Christian Academy.

Design objectives

1. Create an intimidating 3D logo from the 2D vector
2. Animate pieces of the KCA logo coming together
3. Include an "electrical" component at the end

2D Logo ➡️ 3D Model

Final

In the summer of 2024, Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) was renamed to Nelson University.

This change initiated a "domino effect" in logo and branding, prompting both the SAGU Athletics Department and the SAGU Sports Network to update their logos.

The Challenge

The new logo had several requirements:

1. Remove all gold colors from SAGU Lions and replace it with grey
2. Use the entire name "Nelson University Sports Network"
3. Move away from the "shield" concept

But the ultimate challenge was timing: We had 3 weeks from the finalization of the network name to our opening weekend of broadcasts to complete the entire process: concept, design, modeling, animation, and implementation.

Design Process

We were given a few images from the Athletic department of the new Nelson Athletics logo to inform the new NUSN design.

We debated creating a new logomark to differentiate NUSN from Nelson Athletics. Ultimately, including the Lion in the NUSN logo took priority over designing (yet another) new or altered mark for fans to learn and connect with.

The toughest part of the process was incorporating the many letterforms of "Nelson University Sports Network" without relying on a "shield" to anchor the 32 characters together.

After exploring different concepts, we moved forward with an "expanded banner" approach, where we retained the distinct edges of the banner while extending it to accommodate the additional characters in a visually cohesive way.

Final version

2D logo

3D Logo

Replay Transition

We also used the replay transition as an opening bumper for special presentations.

Outro bumper

In-game elements

For sideline reports, we updated mic flag and redesigned the lower third to include the shape of the Nelson Athletics/NUSN banner.

I love how something as simple as the shape of a lower third so deeply ties the visual design to the NUSN brand. The difference is truly in the details.

I designed a series of templates to promote the SAGU Sports Network broadcasts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Horizontal

Designed to be easy to scan the QR code on digital signage, jumbotrons, and broadcasts.

Vertical (Posts)

Designed for posting to social media platforms.

Vertical (Stories)

Designed to promote the broadcasts on Facebook and Instagram stories without the app's UI covering up important information.

Conference Tournament

For the Sooner Athletic Conference volleyball tournament, we infused the regular season design with the SAC's distinctive red color.

Horizontal

Vertical (Posts)

Vertical (Stories)

Champions

NAIA Tournament

The SAGU women's volleyball team advanced to the NAIA volleyball tournament and was selected as a host site for the Opening Round.

Like the conference tournament, we infused these designs with the NAIA's blue color.

Horizontal

Vertical (Posts)

Vertical (Stories)

Today marks 10 years of living in Texas. I never planned to stay this long, but there's no doubt I've enjoyed my time in the Lone Star State!

Over the past few weeks, I've assembled a list of notes everyone should know if they plan to move out here.

1. Everyone will tell you to use the bathroom at a certain gas station

All must worship at the Altar of Lord Buc-ees!

2. The preferred brand of ice cream is Blue Bell. This is the way.

Texans lost their minds in 2015 when Blue Bell was temporarily shut down.

And whatever you do, don't show up to a Bar-B-Q with that Great Value brand.

Hot take: HEB brand ice cream is better.

3. Pickup trucks are a man's other best friend

Texans might argue over Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, but the instant you say anything negative about a pickup truck they'll put all that aside and gang up on you.

4. When someone invites you to their house for barbecue or steaks...you are "one of us"

It's arguably the biggest step in any Texas friendship.

5. Everyone's favorite trivia question involves the Texas state flag

"Did you know Texas is the only state flag that can fly as high as the US flag?"

And they're proud of this...and now maybe I am too?

6. The spicy ketchup at Whataburger is the best ketchup in the world

It's not really that spicy, but paired with some piping hot french fries.... 🤯

Some even wonder if this is where the design of Beto O'Rourke's brand came from.

Beto O’Rourke’s logo for his 2020 presidential run is drawing comparisons to iconic Texas chain Whataburger

Beto O’Rourke’s logo for his 2020 presidential run is already being compared to iconic Texas chain Whataburger’s spicy ketchup.

InsiderKate Taylor

7. Think of any word, put the word "Texas" after it, and that's the name of a real place in Texas.

I was about 40 miles away from an explosion in West, Texas (not west Texas). Ironically, the town of West, TX is actually in east Texas.

There are a million and one blogs dedicated to this, but Texas has some crazy names for towns and cities.

From Bug Tussle to Tarzan, here are 40 of the oddest Texas town names

It’s plain to see where certain Texas town names come from. For example, Round Rock, Sugar Land and College Station tote some exceptionally literal names. But tons of other Texas towns, from Nameless to Uncertain and Bug Tussle to Frognot, flaunt names with less obvious origins.

KPRC Click2HoustonBriana Zamora-Nipper

8. Four quick claps in public, and they start singing this

9. You can say nothing bad about Texas except for the electrical grid...complete free pass

If you know what ERCOT is, I'm sorry.

10. In the fall, it's important to know how your town's high school football team is doing if you want to have anything to talk about after church on Sunday

The average high school stadiums is bigger and better than probably 80 percent of college stadiums, and I feel like that's a conservative estimate.

11. No state income tax is great

April is a lot better when there's no paperwork to file with the state!

12. Texans love the shape of their state

If you can buy it, there's a version of it in the shape of Texas.

13. The official state drink is Dr. Pepper

If you ask for a "coke," there's a good chance the waiter will live auto-correct you..."Did you mean Dr. Pepper?"

14. Surprisingly, unsweet tea was the default choice until recently

Many restaurants still don't have sweet tea.

15. H-E-B is the best grocery store

You'll end up buying food you've never tried before thanks to irresistible yellow coupons throughout the store.

From hurricanes to ice storms to COVID, H-E-B has faithfully taken care of Texans in the worst of times, which is why we're loyal to them 'til the day we die!

16. “Mum” does not mean "mom"

This is still confusing to me. People will literally pay $1,000 for flowers.

17. No matter where you are in the DFW Metroplex, you are only one hour away from where you want to be

It's a big metroplex, but they didn't skimp on the roads.

Seriously, a single lane could be the width of two lanes in other states.

18. People are very judgmental about chips and salsa

If you want to break up with someone, just say "Pace salsa is pretty good."

19. In the minds of some (many?) Texans, the Statue of Liberty is the second most important monument of freedom behind “Big Tex”

20. “Don’t Mess with Texas” was originally a littering campaign

The website is still up and going strong!

Home - Don’t Mess With Texas

Don’t Mess with Texas is Texas’ most successful litter free program that educates everyone that Don’t mess with Texas® means don’t litter.

Don't Mess With TexasSercan Coskun

21. It's dangerous to drive anywhere during "blue bonnet season"

Whether it's a country road or a busy interstate, millions of moms feel the extreme need to pull over and get a selfie with the famous flower every year.

22. The State Fair is so important they give kids a day off of school just to go

I was so confused when I first heard students say they had "Fair Day" off.

23. Since there's no emoji with the state flag (yet), Texans use the flag of Chile 🇨🇱

I'm confident that once Gen Z is old enough to be in the Texas Government, they'll legislate a Texas state flag emoji.

24. Most Texas stereotypes are wrong, except for one

You're more likely to see hipsters than cowboys in Texas, but don't be fooled because the hipsters are packing.

Red or blue, Texans love their guns.

25. The state pride is real

State history is mandatory in middle school, and you can feel this state was previously a country.

Texans love Texas, and there's no state that comes close to matching that intensity.

I received a lot of good feedback on my post about the Washington Commanders rebrand. While the rebrand had some good elements, in the end I couldn't help but conclude the brand was generic and forgettable.

This morning I found the explanation from the company hired to create the new brand—Code and Theory—and I think I figured out why the rebrand missed the mark (and why they've already had to tweak the crest).

Was it crafted by sports fans?

Code and Theory sought to build "the most inclusive sports team brand—ever."

I’ve spend thousands of hours in the sports industry, and the only individuals who would use the phrase “sports team” in any context are non-sports fans.

If you're in the sports industry, you would reword the objective to something like "the most inclusive sports franchise—ever."

But if you don't understand sports, you're liable to think the 'sports team' plays the 'sports game' on the 'sports field' with the 'sports ball'....

Okay, a bit tongue-in-cheek. But they were aiming generic, and I think they hit the nail on the head.

Also, check out this new* crest for Washington.

Setting aside the design faux-pas of:

1. Using three (or more?) fonts in a single logo,
2. Including SIX different years,
3. And designing a crest that does not scale down well at small sizes...

This design strongly resembles international football, not American football.

Examine the Commanders' crest next to the English Premiere League logos.

The crest says "football," much like Liverpool or Leichester City.

A friend commented that the three stars in the Commanders' crest also resemble the three stars in the (very-American) Major League Soccer logo.

But back to the Commanders crest.

Visually, this doesn't say American football because it's so generic.

Which, when I think about it,  fits well with the objective of creating an identity for a "sports team." 🤷🏻‍♂️

Lastly, you can tell this wasn't crafted by sports fans because....what happens to the crest if Washington wins another Super Bowl?

If you're going to design an identity for a franchise grow into, don't make it possible for the team to outgrow it in less than a year.

The Knock-Off Brand

In Code and Theory's design reasoning, they went to great lengths to explain that this rebrand is deeply rooted in inclusivity. In fact, they use the word “inclusive," or a varying form, 8 times in their brief. (By comparison, the word “football” was only used once when not referring to the "Washington Football Team").

The goal was inclusivity, not so much the NFL, football, or Washington DC.

But why inclusivity as the focus?

Well, the Redskins nickname was deemed not inclusive, and if you're going to go through the trouble (and expense 💰) of a full rebrand, you do not want to go through that process again.

At the end of the day, the emphasis on inclusivity is inseparable with the former nickname.

This leads to the design philosophy being built around NOT being the Redskins more than it is built around BEING the Commanders.

This is what I call the 'knock-off brand,' where a brand's equity is inescapably rooted in its imitation or rejection of another brand.

And it never works.

Someone knocked-off YouTube and called it GodTube.

No matter how good the content on GodTube will be, it's ultimately a knockoff of YouTube and sounds like a website where you're going to get three popup ads for hot singles in your area.

Mike Huckabee's campaign for President in 2016 is one of the more recent knock-off brand attempts, where his entire marketing strategy centered around knocking off the well-crafted Obama brand.

1. The rally cry "From Hope to Higher Ground" draws from Obama's "Hope" messaging
2. The logo imitates the horizon in Obama's famous O.

The Huckabee strategy meant that his unique identifier was that he was not the guy already in office. But there are already 300+ million Americans who aren't Obama; what made Huckabee special? (Apparently not much because he ended his campaign shortly after it launched.)

The knock-off brand can never work.

The Washington Commanders brand was built around not being the Redskins, and that led to the visual identity being too generic.

The design philosophy should have been to go all-in on being the Commanders. Identify the great Commanders in American history and incorporate that into the identity.

Already changed the crest?

There was confusion as to the years on the crest that represent the Super Bowl winning seasons. The crest originally had the calendar year of the Super Bowl win, not the year the season started (as is custom in the NFL).

Well, it's been changed.

But you keen-eyed readers will notice they also removed the gradient background of the crest, which was previously lighter in the top-right.

Is it really that bad?

Embracing the rebrand of a beloved team remains a tough ask for any agency aiming to please a franchise with a vast and passionate fanbase. The new identity has to be unique enough for the franchise to grow into over time but familiar enough to maintain the existing brand equity.

In execution, the Washington Commanders concept feels like it was birthed from a brief that stated, "Give us a new nickname, get people to forget we were ever the Redskins, and don't you dare touch our colors."

Ultimately, they tried to please everyone and ended up splitting the difference, which is why we're left with a decent high school or college brand that comes up short of encompassing the glory of one of the world's most iconic sports franchises.

Another Super Bowl means another TV networks rolls out a fresh broadcast graphics package, and NBC is wasting no time showing their new look in today's Super Bowl LVI Pregame Show.

Lower Thirds: Standard

Up to this point, the layout is almost the same as all the other networks. But check out what they do when they want to show a headshot and a team logo.

Most networks put the logo over Sean McVay's right shoulder, but NBC has elected to "squish" it between the headshot and the primary text area. Seems risky because the team logo is going to be very hard for viewers to identify.

Now the NFL logo is pretty easy to recognize, but it's also one of the most recognizable logos ever. It's impossible to think any logo in that slot will be easily identifiable when you consider all of the logos in the sports world: NFL, NCAA, and beyond.

Bold decision. We'll see if it pans out.

Lower Thirds: Slim

Worth noting two things

1. The Twitter logo is not present, but the Twitter color is. Notice how the NBC peacock is overlaid with that unique blue of Twitter's primary color. (They still have the rainbow logo in the top right.)
2. Note how the title line is for NBC's show (@SNFonNBC) instead of Michelle Tafoya's Twitter handle

Now this one's weird because it's slim, aligned to the top left, and takes more of the visual cues from the standard lower thirds than the slim ones.

Corner Box

Classic layout, but they're so clean.

Split views

Ticker

Surprisingly, the ticker looks the same as it has been. Looks like the smooth lines of the new lower thirds clash with the straight lines and angled corners of the ticker

Conclusion

When it comes to broadcast graphics, NBC Sports historically sits on a throne above all competitors  After watching today's Super Bowl Pregame Show, it looks like we have 3 or 4 more years of the NBC peacock thinking it's better than everyone else.

The Champion Sports Network aims to revolutionize high school and small college sports coverage through new media platforms. Their logo needed to combine a sense of authority with the underdog spirit only a small school athletic program can provide.

To achieve a visual balance between tradition and modernity, I paired a bold, collegiate-inspired font for "Champion" with a contrasting, lowercase script for "sports network," evoking a rebellious yet still approachable energy.

If you're not an NFL fan or have been quarantined in your basement since March 2020 with no Internet connection and only a bag of Doritos to keep you company, then you might have missed that the Washington Redskins retired their nickname in 2020 and have played two entire NFL seasons under the ultimate generic name of the Washington Football Team.

That all changed on 2/2/22 when we got our first look at a new NFL franchise brand since the Houston Texans joined just over 20 years ago.

Setting aside the question of if Washington should have rebranded (because the Internet is full of commentary on that), we're here to examine and deconstruct the execution of the new brand.

From Washington

Full press release

The Washington Football Team is now the Washington Commanders

New team identity pays tribute to regional culture of leadership and service as well as Washington’s rich history and football legacy as the team enters its 90th Season.

Washington Football TeamCopied!

More explanation on the branding. EDIT: They took down the site, but you can still find bits and pieces of it in the Wayback Machine.

Analysis

Brand reveal video.

Everything points to this video as the place to learn about the changes. (Surpisingly no link to embed, which seems odd for 2022)

https://www.commanders.com/video/brand-reveal-video

The video is...fine. Thoroughly fine. Not bad, not great. Squarely mediocre (much like their team, which has only had a winning record 3 times since the new millenium, but I digress).

Calling back to the 'legends' of the past is the safe move. Reminds people of what makes the Redsk...Commanders great.

Still, I don't think it was wise for us to see the Redskins logo more than the Commanders logo.

Overall, I expected more from an NFL franchise. Brand reveal video = meh.

For the record, this is how it's done.

Logomark

Here's a side-by-side with the quick W they created for the Washington Football Team moniker 18 months ago. A few nice changes to make it more striking. But again, I expected more.

The new logomark looks like it has a subtle "1" on the right "piece" of the W, which I really like. Doubt it was intentional, but that's a win in my book.

Can't help but wish they had incorporated the Washington Monument or some Washington landmark into it somehow. The logomark lacks any tie to Washington DC, confusion with the state of Washington notwithstanding.

Other teams incorporate the local culture into the design.

The Houston Texans prominently integrated the Texas Lone Star into the logo.

The fleur-de-lis is the New Orleans Saints. End of discussion.

But the Washington Commanders logomark doesn't really say Washington or Commanders.

It just says W.

In spite of its ambiguity, the actual design of the W is unique and memorable, and hopefully that pays off in the long run.

Of course, we could just call it a win that it doesn't resemble the style or color from the Ws of the Washington Nationals or Walgreens....

Wordmark

99 percent sure the typeface is Oswald. If not, it's a really close knock-off of it...check out this specimen from Google Fonts.

Hard to get excited about a generic font with stripes on the top and bottom. Feels extremely low-budget.

Selecting a typeface that's generic and free from Google Fonts does not honor the unique history of Washington nor evoke the prestige of an elite NFL franchise.

Seriously, spend some money and get a unique font from a type foundry.

Moving on...

The C and S were adjusted to have a more interesting angle.

I can't help but wonder, do the angles/cutouts have any meaning, or maybe the whitespace created by the angles? Do they connect to the angles of an award on a Commander's uniform in the US Army or something? I don't think the angles are bad necessarily, but I don't really understand how that design choice ties into the overall brand.

Now how about those two Ms....geez. Based on the specimen I created on Google Fonts, I think the designer kept them relatively untouched from the original font. Maybe it's just me, but those Ms look like they're stuck on the middle seat after boarding in Group C on Southwest Airlines.

Alternatives

Here are some of my favorite alternatives created by designers and posted on Behance.

Washington Warhawks

Washington Warhawks

Washington Warhawks

BehanceBehance

The wordmark is weak, but the logomark and alternate more than make up for it. Eagles and stars? Can't get more Washington/American than that.

Washington Redtails

Washington RedTails - Washington Redskins Rebrand

This is a concept design for the rebranding of the Washington Redskins, to the Washington Redtails.

BehanceBehance

Why the Redtails you ask?

The name ‘Redtails’ is a nod to the WWII Tuskegee Airmen, who were the first African-American military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces. The nickname ‘Red Tails’ comes from their planes, which had a distinct crimson tail. I believe this is a great opportunity to maintain the current brand's color palette, while at the same time giving historical meaning to the franchise.

Washington Redhawks

Washington Redhawks - Brand ID Proposal

New identity proposal for the Washington Redskins

BehanceBehance

My favorite of them all. Brandon Moore really put some thought into this with good explanations for each change made. I love the way he drew from the geometric inspiration from the existing visual identity to create something both new and yet familiar.

Conclusion

Washington kept the classic maroon and gold colors. Besides that, I don't see how they honored the past or created an exciting future with their new identity. Creating a NFL brand is hard, which is why it was critical for Washington to create a unique attitude with their identity that the team could grow into (like the Rams did a few years back).

As it stands right now, we're left with a really solid high school football team design. No chances were taken. Nothing here is really all that memorable.

Then again, maybe after the media carousel they've been on the past two years, not being memorable was the goal of this rebrand from the very beginning.

I'm a Rocket League wannabe, and I've started getting into the Rocket League Champion Series ("RLCS") in recent months. When they started using a "Swiss" layout, I had no idea what the format was.

Round-robin is easy: everyone plays everyone.

Single-elimination? NCAA Men's Basketball has made it a staple every March. It's gaudy and uninspiring, but it's simple: winners move on, losers watch on TV like the rest of us.

But a Swiss format? That just sounds complicated.

Until I saw this graphic.

I've had this screenshot on my desktop for over a week, and I feel like I learn something new every time I deconstruct it. Whoever designed it communicated so much with almost no text.

Color

Rocket League is an international esport, and the use of green-yellow-red appeals to a global familiarity with that progression of color.

In this graphic, green means you're undefeated, red means you're on the verge of elimination, and yellow means you're somewhere in the middle.

Notice how the use of color isn't limited to the border of the "boxes" but also the lines connecting the boxes.

Progression

The lines showing progression between rounds is pretty standard (see NCAA bracket above). I like how this designer angled the rounds and the games themselves to subtly imply progression.

Status

One of the benefits of a Swiss format is that many games tend to be close because the two teams playing always have the same record.

At the top of each group of games, you can see the record (e.g. "0-2") of the teams competing. One of the few uses of text in the graphic, but appropriate.

In this scenario, I think it would be more confusing to replace the records with symbols or something else.

Shortcomings

The records above each "box" are helpful but hard to read.

The graphic doesn't explain how teams are paired in the first round when they're all 0-0.

Do the shortcomings matter?

Given the clean design, minimal use of text, and excellent layout that carefully takes on the difficult job of explaining a new competition format in a 1920 x 1080 frame, this a slam dunk of a design.

Kudos! 👏

A year ago today while watching Thursday Night Football, I noticed this frame was jam-packed with logos.

Can you imagine a brief requesting all of these logos in the same image?

Whoever did the layout kept it simple and basically just stacked them all up. Not sure if there was a better way to do it, but it's still pretty clunky.

Overall, I think the genius move here was to keep the pixels primarily focused on the background city graphic (lots of depth) and the broadcasters (personal appeal) as opposed to the Leaning Tower of Logos.

It's really hard to count how many there are because of combinations. Do NFL and NFL network count as two?

Here's my best take.

1. Dallas Cowboys
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. NFL
4. NFL Network
5. FOX
6. FOX NFL
7. FOX Sports (on the mic flag)
8. Prime
9. Prime Video
10. Amazon smile
11. Bud Light
12. Bud Light Platinum
13. GMC
14. GMC Kickoff Show?

Did I miss any? Have an idea of what they should have done? Drop a comment!

Great explanation from Vox of all places.

Every copy of Jonathan Evans' book Your Time Is Now includes a link to a short film.

Jonathan reached out to see if we could create a visually captivating conclusion.

I collaborated with Josh at Pharris Photos & Films to design graphics that matched the design of the book cover and the aesthetic of the short film.