NBA – The inside story behind the Clippers’ new uniforms, logos،
Just months after Steve Ballmer purchased the LA Clippers in 2014, he and his team began reconsidering everything about the franchise: where it should play, what its logo should look like, what colors it should use, even the name ” Clippers” himself. .
They hired outside consultants to develop fan surveys asking questions about all of the above. Meanwhile, the Clippers regained national prominence after the Chris Paul/Blake Griffin era gave way to the Kawhi Leonard/Paul George offseason of 2019. The Clippers didn't make the Finals, but they did clinched the conference finals in 2021 for the first time. time in franchise history and have been consistent contenders when healthy.
Ballmer has shown himself willing to spend whatever it takes to win. In 2019, the Clippers announced plans to move into a new arena: the Intuit Dome, which will open next season.
According to their internal studies, the Clippers have doubled their total number of fans over the past seven years, team officials said. They want to double it again in the future.
Fan reactions were consistently opposed to a possible name change, team officials said, describing fan response to any suggestion of a name change as “outright hostility.”
The reactions hit Ballmer. “Focus groups are advisory, not definitive,” Ballmer told ESPN. “But I still listen to them and heard, partly to my surprise, that there was no interest in a name change. I had been thinking about [the name] years ago, before I joined the team, but we heard similar reactions back then.”
But the team knew they needed a rebrand. Its current logo – a basketball with a giant blue “C” containing the “LA” brand inside – has been widely criticized as generic and bland.
Ballmer wanted a monogram-style brand that would play on an international level, Gillian Zucker, president of business operations for the Clippers and Intuit Dome, told ESPN. Even amid general criticism of the logo, the team learned that fans liked the idea of a semi-stacked “LA” mark – with the “A” sitting at the top and bottom of the logo. Capital “L”.
With fans expressing such affection for the name – derived from the clipper ships and warships that dot the coast off San Diego, the team's original home in California – team officials decided that t was best to keep the name and attach any new artwork to it. . They wanted a makeover that would stay true to the Clippers' traditional name, colors and iconography.
Focus groups and respondents to those fan surveys repeatedly expressed optimism that the franchise was in good hands under Ballmer, officials said.
“People have said it a hundred times: 'This team now has direction,'” Zucker said. “They said it over and over again.”
The concept of direction – of forward momentum – struck a chord. The result is a new pointed primary icon blending the motifs of a compass and a warship:
Here is the overall logo – which, according to league rules, contains the full team name:
The color scheme is mostly that of the classic Clippers, but with a new emphasis on navy blue. The ship is the centerpiece. There may be some irony about his resemblance to a swimming shark, but the team is probably OK with that. The Clippers wanted the ship to look menacing — like it was heading directly toward you, officials said.
The vessel also helped the team preempt any potential copyright claims from Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners, who have used compass images on their artwork, according to league sources .
The outer edges of the ship's sails curve, imitating real sails in the wind. The font is inspired by the font often used on the hulls of gray warships, the team said.
The two colored rings of the overall logo — red on the outside, powder blue on the inside — provide nice pops of color. They were the brainchild of Christopher Arena, the NBA's head of on-court and brand partnerships, who felt the art needed brighter touches, officials said.
This logo will shine center stage on the Clippers' new court at Intuit Dome:
Amusingly, the “N” in “Angeles” outside the center field logo actually points north, team officials said. The red semi-circle above the foul line is a welcome dose of color. The longitude and latitude of the city of Inglewood – home of the Intuit Dome – are on the edge of the field. The overall look is minimalist and elegant. (It won't be the Clippers' only home court next season, sources said.)
The main icon is featured on the shorts of the team's new association and icon jerseys, in white and navy respectively:
The jerseys are simple and clean. The team kept the general “Clippers” wordmark near the top, but refined the font; it was thicker and curvier – most visible in the cursive lowercase “l” – in some of the team's older jerseys, with some outlines around the letters:
“It was a little cartoonish,” Zucker said of the old font. “We wanted it to be more serious.”
The team's third jersey – the fashion edition – is red and a little different:
The team opted for “Los Angeles” instead of “Clippers” on the front and the cropped “Clips” — a Ballmer favorite — on the waistband.
The Clippers have used black jerseys before, but chose to do away with that look for now. “People kept hearing that black was overdone,” Zucker said.
Under George's right arm, you can see three nautical flags stacked on top of each other – the nautical symbols of “LAC”, another nod to the naval origin of the team's name. The same three flags are rendered on a white background on the left side:
None of the three jerseys revealed today are powder blue. In these surveys and focus groups, fans often mentioned their love for this shade, Zucker said. The Clippers know it. Expect powder blue in the future.
Also expect more “Clips” on Los Angeles art, including as part of its secondary logo collection:
The team is particularly excited about this scripted “LA”, with the “A” perched atop the horizontal part of the “L”. They hope that this structure – the “A” on top and inside the “L” – will be sufficiently distinct from the famous “LA” logo of the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose two letters intersect.
“This will make a phenomenal hat,” Zucker said. “In 20 years, people will look back and it will be iconic for the Clippers.” This logo is found on the belt of the association's jerseys and team icons.
The real masterstroke may well be the stylized partial “C” logo, which combines two nautical images: a compass that also resembles a loop hook around which a sailor might tie a rope. That logo could eventually appear on jerseys, including the waistband, Zucker said.
This all coincides with next season's move to the Intuit Dome, which will feature cutting-edge technology and a series of features designed to get fans focused on the game itself. This includes The Wall, a giant 51-row section reserved for fans who prove (through various verifications) their bona fides as Clippers supporters. The concourse will be dotted with countdown timers that will sound during commercial breaks to alert fans to return to their seats for the game to resume, Ballmer said. In suites, food will be set up closer to the court rather than in the back of the suites.
The game is the thing, and it will be different with the Clippers' massive rebranding.
“The hope [for the look]”, Zucker said, “is that it's modern but it feels like it's been around forever.”
