Portland Jacks

The Portland Jacks brand was developed for my studio art capstone at Elmhurst University. I created a fictional Major League Baseball team based in Portland and came up with the name, logo, colors, photo treatments, and other visual brand elements.

I chose Portland because of the market and history in independent baseball. When researching the city, I found they have a notable timber industry. I eventually landed on the name Jacks in reference to lumberjacks. It's unique but not totally uncommon for professional sports teams to use a similar shorthand in their name (Dodgers, Knicks, etc.)

While developing the brand, I looked to other MLB teams to note trends and gaps. This helped me create a look that both fit in with the MLB landscape and made the team distinct. I noted red and yellow as a major color combination that has gone untapped in the league (the St. Louis Cardinals incorporate yellow on their jerseys, but it is not a major component of their overall brand). I also found majority of teams had a monogram logo and a badge logo, so I incorporated both in the brand. The primary monogram logo includes details inspired by the shape of the axe as well as notches axes make in a tree.

I wanted to ensure the visual brand was purposeful and rooted in meaning. I created patterns inspired by the standard lumberjack flannel pattern and wood grain. I incorporated outlines around cutout players that are meant to look like they were chopped into that shape. The fonts, Veneer and Gin, are rustic, classic, and masculine. The high-contrast, low-saturation photo treatment is gritty and industrial. Once the visual identity was established, I was able to build out social media graphics, tickets, banners, and other assets.