After Hours

About Established in 1974 as the New Orleans Jazz, the team later moved to Utah in 1979. The Utah Jazz are a professional basketball team playing in the NBA.

Design by In-house by Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment creative services

Related Links http://www.nba.com/jazz/newlook http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15519329/uni-watch-breaks-new-look-utah-jazz-bringing-next-season

Notes/Opinions The old Jazz brand had some emotional equity, in my mind at least, because it was one of the few sports brands from my childhood that I remember the logo resembling a finished masterpiece in a coloring book (along with the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Coyotes, and Toronto Raptors) rather than a typical logomark.

The detailed mountainscape in the background paired with the gradient-heavy, swooshing letterforms in the foreground could be considered a piece of fine art in its own right.

And while the logo does make me smile, it deserves to be framed and hung on a wall rather than be on the front a basketball jersey. I think the brand update is refreshing and welcomed. It looks as though much of the original brand from the 1970’s was able to be resurrected and updated for the 2010’s. Seeing the new brand marks in motion showcases how a basketball team’s logo can be relevant in today’s brand climate, where a brand has to be both dynamic and responsive - almost as if it’s breathing.

Although, an issue I have with this brand update is the secondary logomark. With the amount of energy and effort the designers put into the all of the other Jazz logomarks and design elements, this particular piece seems very iterative, repetitive (see image below), and static. I wish the designers would have utilized their new custom typeface in a more exciting and dynamic way.

One other criticism I have of the rebrand (and I know that I’m getting picky here) is that the refined colors aren’t vibrant enough - they don’t pack that ‘punch’. I love sporting a teams colors with pride and being able to recognize other fans too! The chosen blue is so dark and dull that it would be hard to wear those colors at a bar and spot my fellow Jazz supporters. In short, I don’t think the colors are being pushed to their fullest potential.

Overall, I would say the rebrand was successful because the Utah Jazz team and fans have a strong new logo to rally behind and proudly support. The fact that the logo was made with the digital environment in-mind gives this rebrand that much more energy and charisma.

Hope you enjoyed the read!

Jake Nolan and I decided to team up for this project. We grew up together in a small town in Indiana. I can speak for myself and say that I always romanticized the thought of leaving and escaping the corn fields. But now that I’m a bit older and have  lived in a couple of different states, I have a strong pride in where I am from.

For this (re)design, we decided to focus on redesigning the experience of visitindiana.com and visitindy.com. Although we have interaction gifs, we truly wanted to focus on creating a novel user-experience that is both fun and compelling.

Problems

The problems we have with the current order of things on visitindiana.com and visitindy.com are:

The pages don’t have a narrative

The pages overwhelm with content

The packaging of the two sites are totally different - visitindiana.com is clearly focused on an older audience that a wholesome, relaxing long-weekend; while visitindy.com has an energetic color scheme and highlights breweries and racing which sounds good to someone my age (in their mid-20s).

And as a final note, the experience overall just isn’t that compelling or special for either site.

Solutions

As part of the solution for this (re)design, we wanted to create a novel experience around how to discover a city/state/etc. and what it has to offer. When you first land on visitindiana.com, you are confronted with this prompt, “[Sometime] I’m looking forward to [activity]. This statement prompts the user to pick time frame and activity type to give them the my personalized result possible. In the case of the example, the user wanted to spend their weekend hiking. Because of this input, the background image, weather forecast, and CTA all reference Ft. Harrison State Park - the perfect place for some weekend hiking.

But say that the user isn’t quite sure what they want to do or when they want to do it, then if they scroll below the main statement, there’s a section asking, “At a Loss?”. This section has several scrubbers that allow the user to push and pull between different extremes to define their ideal trip. The user’s decisive placement of the scrubbers dictate the result, which will display the most compatible answer and then showcase a few related options.

State Page

Main Prompt - Selection State

Once the user has started to focus their search a bit, they might visit a city-specific page, such as visitindy.com. Once on the city page, the user is no longer confronted with a prompt because knowing the place they want explore is half of the battle. Now, they are given a carousel of events happening around town. Or, similar to the statewide page, the user can take advantage of the scrubbers below the main section to refine their search for the perfect activity happing in that city.

City Page

Expanded Primary Navigation

Style Guide

Jake and I thought it was silly for a state and its cities/regions to have disjointed tourism portals, branding, and altogether experiences. When you think of a vacation destination, Indiana is probably the last state on your mind, so it needs all the help it can get.

We decided to use a single style guide throughout all the state/city pages. The color scheme comes from the Indiana state flag and the type choices were meant to be interpreted as both traditional, but also on-trend to appeal to audiences both young and old. The charismatic  iconography (which we did not design, but graciously borrowed from The Noun Project) can also be seen in two lights - simple, clear and fun, light-hearted. Between the color, type, and icons, these design elements reinforce the idea of form meeting function and this site being extremely functional, but also really fun to look at and interact with.

We hope y’all enjoyed reading and thanks for your time!

Project 31: Advice to Your Art School Self

College was a fun, awkward, tiring, inspiring, and enlightening few years. I had my first date, I figured out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I went on a European road trip. While I feel that I embraced my time in school, hindsight has allowed me to point out a couple of themes that would’ve been helpful to be aware of on my the quest to make something of myself.

Below is advice to my art school self.

Okay, let’s break this advice down into two categories: learning and living. I think that the social side of the college experience is just as impactful and influential as the learning as should be treated as such.

Let’s start with the basics: 1. Work your butt off. It doesn’t sound fun, but I promise it makes a huge difference. Eat, breathe, and dream about design. 2. Take every opportunity to learn something new - whether it be a technique, program, or major altogether. 3. Become friendly with your professors. They are a HUGE resource and are there to watch you blossom into a thoughtful designer. 4. Learn to like coffee - it will become your best friend.

Now for some deeper shit: 5. Don’t spend every waking moment worrying about your future. You know your a hard worker with lofty aspirations - know that that’s enough. 6. (Related to #4) You WILL get a design job. If you want something bad enough, you won’t stop until you have achieved it. So, just calm down and focus on making great work. 7. This one is hard, but don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Design easily becomes subject when there’s room full people staring each other’s work. Just make sure that each project is better than your last and you’ll be fine.

1. Coming from a small town, don’t be afraid to just be yourself. Everyone is going to try really hard to look/sound/smell like a budding, eclectic artist. While this can be annoying from time to time, it will also encourage you to live honestly and truthfully. 2. You don’t have to go to every party or ‘night out’ that your invited to. Stay in, watch some movies, and have some quality time with the roomies. 3. Know that the friends you make in college are going to be some of the most influential people in your life, so make sure to appreciate them and stay in touch. 4. Be promiscuous. Learn what you like, what you don’t like, have great relationships and horrible breakups. Use this time explore yourself and others.

And one last piece of advice, arguably the most important piece. I remember sitting in my first class in my first quarter in my first year of college and the professor asked us all to describe, in one word, the most important characteristic of being a creative-type. I wrote in my sketchbook in big bold letters ’humility’. Stay humble. A humble designer will never be satisfied, never be content, and will always be pushing themselves to do better.

Lauren is a Portland-dwelling, dog-loving, soccer-playing friend of mine. She’s a film maker, editor, and producer with an eye for fun angles and tasty food. We’re here to ask her the hard-hitting questions about her creative background and turn the challenge prompt on it’s head. Here we go:

LSo: What got you into filmmaking/production/editing? Is this something you’ve always had your heart set on?

Lauren: Growing up my family went to the movies all the time. Sometimes we’d see 2-3 movies in a weekend. My first job when I was 16 was being an usher at a movie theater so my involvement and curiosity with movies and movie making was spawned organically out of exposure I guess. Another contributing factor was that my high school began to offer a digital film class so I took that as my elective all four years which gave me access to cameras and editing software I would never have had otherwise. That class cemented my desire to go to film school.

LSo: Would your art school self ever have imagined that you would be a freelance filmmaker/videographer living and working in Portland?

Lauren: Maybe? I like to think she’d be glad I was freelancing and experiencing a new city.

LSo: If you could have any one actress play you in a full length motion picture (or made for TV movie), who would it be and why?

Lauren: Sandra Bullock, because like a fine wine, she gets better with age. She’s also a boss in every sense of the word. She’s an entrepreneur, producer, philanthropist, mother and has an amazing on-screen presence! She’s also owned homes in cities I have deep connections to: Austin, TX, Tybee Island, GA, and New Orleans, LA so naturally, we’re soulmates.

LSo: Another question in the same vein, if there was a montage of your life’s moments playing on screen, what song would you want playing in the background?

Lauren: Any song by Patrick Watson.

LSo: How do you feel about movie franchises splitting up the final movie (Harry Potter, The Hunger Games) into two parts?

Lauren: Dislike. It’s just a scheme for the studios to make more money. Also, I’m very impatient. No one wants to wait a whole year to finish the story! If they need to make the movie five hours long I’m totally cool with that. Then again, maybe all my Netflix binge watching has conditioned me to think that cliffhangers are unacceptable.

Argument in favor of two movies: it provides more jobs.

LSo: Turning the Challenge prompt on its head, do you think your art school self would have any advice for you right now?

Lauren: She’d probably just quote me some fortune cookie fortune she found in her jeans pocket (probably the front right pocket).

Project 30: Lights, Camera, Action! - Star Wars: The Force Awakens

For this project, I decided to make a poster for the movie of the decade, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I have to admit, I’ve never self-proclaimed that I am a Star Wars fan. However, I LOVED the film so I thought this was a great opportunity to show that appreciation.

I really wanted to focus on my technique, in particular texture. I’ve been trying to capture the finesse involved using grain textures. I’m pleased with the result of this project, especially when I compare it to previous texture experiments.

For Project 30, the inaugural challenge of 2016: We will be designing a poster or series of posters for one of our favorite movies, film franchises, or movie genres! 🎬The subject could also could be for a book or book series that you would like to see produced as a film sometime in the future!

Project 29: Style Switch-Up

Inspired by this algorithm, this month’s challenge is to take an existing visual aesthetic/art movement and repurpose it for something else. This could mean taking a brand like Nike and doing it in the style of art deco, or taking something minimalist like Muji and imagining what their look and feel would be like if it was messier and grungier.

Project 27: Follower Submissions

This was the first project where we invited our followers submit their creations and someone took us up on that offer. Check out Rachel’s submission above and the additional info below to see more of her work or reach out. If you’d like to submit for the next project, see the Submit tab in our main page’s nav for instructions.

Project 27: Self-Portrait - Character Bold

This prompt was to create a self-portrait. Wanting to push both myself and the envelope with this challenge, I decided to go in a direction that was more representational of who I am rather than literal.  I decided to create a typeface that was very indicative of who I am as a person. I sat myself down and just started exploring letter forms and shapes. I was rather irrational with my letter-making, making decisions based on ‘want’ and ‘feel’ vs. ‘consistency’ and ‘reason’. I didn’t really give myself the chance to filter or refine. I was very much in the moment with this project which I think helped it to be some of the truest work I’ve done lately. Designing purely based on my emotions and remaining in the present is probably the purest reflection of myself and how I want to be represented.

Project 27 Prompt: Self-Portrait

The goal is to create and design a self-portrait of yourself. Dive inward and find ways to express the parts that make you…you. There will be zero restrictions in terms of medium or scope. Submissions will be posted on August 23rd throughout the day. 

As a special part of the project, we are opening up submissions for this project to every one of our followers. For those choosing to submit, please limit your submission to one image and have it in by end of day of August 22nd. If you want to use a gif, Tumblr has problems if the file exceeds 2MB so be conscious of that. We’ll then post a selection of submissions at some point during the following week for everyone to see. Use the Submit link in the nav to send us your files as a zip. Please include a text document with your name and one link (optional) along with your image (between 1000-1500px wide) for review. This is a trial to see if people are interested and if it works out and is something fun, expect to see the opportunity again in the future.

Project 26: National Park Badge Hunting - 100 Years

For this project, we were tasked with creating badges a la Allan Peters that were inspired by National Parks. After chatting with a friend it was brought to my attention that 2016 is the 100 year anniversary of the National Park Service (although its being celebrated over the course of 2015-2016). So, I decided to do some badge-work that honored this awesome milestone.

I created 4 badges all centered around the same ‘100’ type. I wanted to make the badges look distinct but have a consistent, hearty color palette that would tie them all together as well as incorporate a feeling of adventure and nature. I was experimenting with the design elements actually containing themselves without the use of a border.

I had so much fun goin’ huntin’ on this project and I hope y’all enjoy!

Project 26: National Park Badge Huntin’ Y’all!

Inspired by Allan Peter’s badge exploration - we are going to make some our own. The number is up to you, but 3 seems to sound like a good number so we can see the systemic approach? …or a really, really kickass singular badge? Whatever the number, follow your heart and have fun :) Allan Peters badges: http://cargocollective.com/peters/Badges

His inspiring talk at Creative South: https://vimeo.com/103925238

Project 25: City Flag - Los Angeles

I chose to rethink the city flag of Los Angeles. The current flag doesn’t follow many of the conventions of what would be deemed as a ‘successful’ with it’s seal and all. Also, a flag is meant to be embraced and celebrated as it represents a piece of where you are from or where you are at the moment. 

As noted above, this redesign is an evolution of the flag rather than a re-invention. The unique characteristic of the current city flag are the diagonal lines. I decided that that would be where I would start. I wanted to simply the use of the diagonals, while also making them more impactful and impressionable. I ever-so-slightly tweaked the colors so that they weren’t so heavy-handed. And lastly, I added two notches to the flag - on top and bottom. The intention behind the notches is to not only the allow the design of the flag to be unique and identifiably ‘Los Angeles’ - but also the silhouette.

Alex has many passions - the Tampa Bay Lightning, her hatred of all things ‘orange’, taco Tuesdays, video games, astronomy, and film photography. So let’s get to know more about the character that is Alex Garey.

1. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Project 24: Learn Something New - After Effects and Writing about Design

Hey everyone! For this project I decided to dip my toes into a couple of fields. I decided to finally open that scary application that’s been sitting in my dock for ages - After Effects. I just wanted to mess around with the existing Letter Society logo and see what I could do. It was definitely a fast learning-curve…but I could see myself diving into the rabbit whole of motion given enough time.

ALSO - I decided to write my article on design. I decided to write about my process when it comes to design a logo identity. It’s a topic that I’m very passionate about and love to discuss. You can find it here:

https://medium.com/@erik_wag/my-process-identity-design-64cac667ef1

I’m not much of a writer - but, it was fun to pretend to be one for a few days :)