Re-Branding That Couldn’t Hit the Broadside of a Barn
Back in September of 2011, Brooklyn born rapper and part owner of the New Jersey Nets, Jay-Z, announced that the soon to be relocated team would be re-branded “The Brooklyn Nets”. In April of this year Jay-Z unveiled the team’s new colour-scheme, typeface, and logo apparently designed by the star himself with the aid of designer Timothy Morris.
“I wanted to make it really classic and strong; a throwback to Brooklyn and what we’re about. It’s real gritty and we’re not about flash — well, sometimes. Just the roots of Brooklyn as this very bold, strong, simple logo.”
“It was really a take off the old subway signs, if you look at the old subway signs they were in black and white. It was that strong, beautiful, iconic black and white. I wanted to pick something that would stand the test of time and be here forever.” Said Jay-Z.
A completely reasonable goal, with some very sound logic; however, the end result is an air-ball that would make Metta World Peace (Ron Artest) look like Buddha.
Is the new Nets logo a throwback or a throw-out?
The mark could have only been implemented by someone with little to no design experience or training (Jay-Z). Haphazardly placed iconography within the piece only emphasizes that point, and the logo utilizes a distorted typeface that would make most designers’ heads explode. It’s not all bad though, the black and white colour scheme is a unique choice for a modern sports team, as is the simplicity of the mark… unfortunately the overall piece just falls completely flat.
A designer’s primary job with any piece should be to grab a viewer’s attention while accurately portraying the essence of a brand. This iconography may very well do the former, not so much the latter. While Jay-Z’s thinking behind the piece was sound, he failed to fully visualize his concept, leading to a half baked (unfinished) icon. With the aid, experience and technical ability of a designer such as Timothy Morris, he should have been able to come up with something that had a bit more production value. It is the responsibility of a designer to guide a client and essentially be their creative eyes, ears and hands. No matter how adamant the client is about their own idea, it is still a designer’s responsibility to make the best piece they possibly can.
Remember, as a client hiring a creative, don’t shy away from an assertive, articulate designer. Open-mindedness is a key value, but someone who knows the right answer based on asking you the right questions is someone that should be considered an asset to your brand-identity.
What do you think about the new Nets logo? Has Jigga captured the essence of Brooklyn or thrown them back to a time that should be forgotten? We’d like to hear what you have to say in the comments below.
What’s astonishing is the clumsy handling of the typography; the team name in the old New Jersey Nets logo was much more dynamic! It’s too bad when poor design sucks the life out of a good brand.
This new icon seems to imply the Nets will never be anything but a B team. Not much of a flag to rally ’round. Stick to rapping Jay-Z.
The typography is bad on the main logo, but the feel is right on the money. Reminds me of an inner city school team’s jersey. A few minor tweaks, and they could be selling a lot of these shirts. Its one of the more versatile logos I’ve seen for a sports team; it’s simplicity makes it easy to pair with different fashions. Stylistically, it reminds me of the original streetwear brands, before they became overly polished and mainstream.
Overall, its kind of ugly (except for the “BROOKLYN” typeface, I actually like that a lot), but there’s enough style behind the brand to make it a hit if the Nets are successful on the court this year.
At the very least, if they tweaked the shape of the “NETS” typeface, I’d be fine with it.
I agree with AW about the feel of the logo, it holds the inner city approach nicely but it does seem the typography portion falls flat. Looses something in the weight of it. Unfortunately with a name like JayZ and his well known presence in the media, I think his ego and big head got in the way of a good design and intended effort.