Ahead of the NBA season tip-off next week, a small but mighty design studio within connected marketing agency Digitas, has launched a passion project, '
NBA Design Vision' - a fan-informed exercise to create and curate the most resonant visual identity and uniform set for every team in the NBA.
The project features a logo, graphics kit and uniform set (association, icon, city and statement uniforms) for every single team in the NBA, celebrating the most iconic historic designs and adding over 120 brand new takes – inspired by the culture and the fans of every team.
The team compiled every league-wide logo or uniform ranking they could find over the last few months, and reviewed every team blog, reddit thread and social conversation to make sure fan sentiment drove their design decisions. Each team has its own page on the site, with a snapshot of fan sentiment, followed by design concepts with the rationale behind any changes explained. The most iconic elements for each team have been preserved, and every team has at least one evolved or reimagined graphic element. Many teams have larger overhauls and a couple have even been renamed.
Visitors to the site can vote on their favourite uniform designs as they browse – rankings for several categories will be reflected in a real-time leaderboard on the site’s homepage.
“This is our small design collective’s love letter to the NBA." commented Jimmy Alleman, SVP / design at Digitas. "We wanted to capture every team’s visual utopia – in a way that celebrates their history and their local culture. There’s a tangible angle to it too: projects like the Heat’s Vice-themed city jerseys and the Bucks’ re-brand prove that if you give your fanbase something that truly resonates, it can spike merch sales. Our theory is that in addition to presenting an elevated design vision for the Association, these executions would increase revenue across the league. But most importantly and as lifelong hoops fans, we hope anyone who loves the NBA can find at least one element that resonates with them, and that we were able to do right by each team in their own way.”