Creating the logo for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022, was definitely one of my favorite projects. Before being tasked with creating it, I was already thinking of various concepts for how the logo would look. I was excited to get a jump start in brainstorming, because I was inspired by my last trip to Chicago back in 2021 for WNBA Finals. The colors, lights, and art of the city truly inspired me, and I wanted to tie in some of my inspirations into the logo. Knowing that Chicago would be the host city for the W’s All-Star that year, got me enthusiastic with playing around with different elements that represent Chicago.
In my earlier iterations of the logo, you can see that I was toying around with the shape of the 6-point star that rests in Chicago’s flag. I wanted to tie that in somehow, by also playing along with the idea of Chicago’s star representing All-Stars. The idea was already there to begin with in my eyes!
As I began to incorporate colors from the WNBA brand, and the Chicago Sky (being that their team’s city was hosting), I started to realize that a “less is more” approach would be best for this identity. When thinking of various applications for the logo, one must think of how it would look at different scales (big or small) and the landscape it would reside in (digital or print, even in a mixed media form such as a sculpture or embroidery). So I started to remove some Chicago elements to make the logo feel less busy, as well as opening up the star to air out the context within it.
After fine tuning my logo, tweaking angels, type, and contrast in colors chosen, a final look was approved by AT&T. The final approved logo has a Primary version, Secondary logo, as well as a Partial logo for a more simplified application. The Primary logo contains key elements, such as 4 small solid 6 pointed stars (similar to what is on the Chicago flag), and the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), home to Skydeck Chicago, the highest observation deck in the United States. The tower itself in the logo represents the high reaching success and momentum of the WNBA, and women sports as a whole. The sky is the limit for the women that make up the league.
Once the logo was approved, I then created a style guide for the league and our partners to use, in order to know best practices for how the logo should be used (the dos and don’ts of treatment of the logo).
Tools used: Adobe Illustrator CC