Less of a logo, and more of a big belt buckle straight from a Texas cowboy. Forged by a smith, shining in sterling silver and gold highlights, with a border made of rope and rivets. This is a Texas-sized identity fit for the iconic Cotton Bowl.
The creative brief: NHL’s Winter Classic outdoor game.. in Texas. The solution: go big or go home, it’s Texas, baby!
While developing designs for a big and bold Texas Winter Classic, we looked at all the classic Western influences: Marshall badges, horseshoes, beautiful hand crafted Saloon signage and lettering (the Ballad of Buster Scruggs had just released on Netflix and it was sporting a gorgeous logo), bulls and cattle, ornate leather saddles, bolo ties, dimensional stars, you name it!
But in the end only one option really resonated with us and felt right: a big ol’ belt buckle.
We went on to develop a theme art package rich with Western influences that felt right at home in Texas and the Cotton Bowl. It consisted of western medallions, rugged typography and wood textures, floral transitions, and a slew of rope and rivet border art.
Having built-up quite a nice traditional library of picture books over the years, when it came to imagining the Winter Classic played in deep Texas, we pulled out everything from the western section that included Texas Rangers’ badges, saddles, belts, leather carving, silver belt buckles and old west typography. Lots to draw from (pardon the pun).
We worked with NHL’s VP of Creative, Paul Conway to develop the right balance of graphic tie-backs and ultimately created a 40-page style guide loaded with super-fun assets.
NHL then worked with the amazing crew at Infinite Scale to blow out the brand program in and around the stadium.
Client-side Creative Direction : Paul Conway, NHL VP Creative +++ Environmental Graphics : Infinite Scale
“Winter” lettering : Jason Carne +++ On-site Photography : Getty Images