Detroit Salt Miners
A friend of a friend was putting together a pitch for a Canadian Football League expansion team in Detroit, Michigan. He had been working with a designer and developed branding, and was looking for feedback on what they had created. Having a background in sports and being obsessed with football kits, my friend forwarded it to me. I had a lot to say, and since the other designer was looking to move on from the project, I was asked to step in and take it from that point.
I will say the initial designer did a fine job creating a character and a concept.
Some of the issues I had with this were mainly focused on color and how it interacts with helmets, jerseys, and how it is perceived on-field.:
The color palette is a little muddled overall.
The contrast on black (they wanted a black helmet) didn't work.
The seafoam green didn't scream Detroit to me.
Some other elements also needed refinement
Primary mark
I addressed the brand mark by doing a few things:
Simplified the axes to be used as an isolated component in other aspects and variations
Fixed the form of the eyes.
Completely remade the workmark component.
Established a modular approach that makes the branding much more versatile and extensible.
As for the colors, I reduced the brand colors to:
Salt blue
Sun
Black
One thing I should address is that the client had the idea of having each player able to customize the skin and hair color on their helmet to represent the diverse cultures found in the Metro-Detroit area. Ambitious and very cool. For the purpose of the pitch we chose this skin and hair combination.
Wordmark
There was a lot of work that needed to be done on the wordmark to move toward a unique, strong, and modern look:
The clean balanced look allows it to be used everywhere.
It is based on the Erbaum typeface.
There is some customization to pull in the point of the pickaxe to tie in with the full brand mark with out being redundant.
The words ”Salt” and “Miners” were given space so it is two words.
Secondary mark
With a more modular approach to the primary mark, it allows for expanding the brand in a kind of classic or throwback look.
Helmets
I was able to show how the impact of the brand is much clearer when used on ligher colored helmets.
The Axe
The salt-blue metallic paint with a bit of bass boat sparkle to draw on the rock salt in the mine. The single pickaxe (on each side) transforms the player into the axe. This is a football player’s football helmet and serves as the primary helmet.
The People's Helmet
The alternate helmet gives players the chance to feature their choice of Miners on a white helmet. This helmet caps the all white kit worn on the road. The crisp, clean trim is all business and allows the Miner to pop.
Kit combinations
Here is a brief look at the kits I put together, along with some promotional copy.
Kit 99 shows our classic home game look:
Metallic helmet paint with matching pants and a dark jersey is a classic football look. The orange trim on the numbers, shoulder patch, and gloves elevates that classic look with more visual interest and detail on TV close-up shots.
Kit 88 shows our classic road game look:
We’re going to look good when we come to your town and post a “W.” The 88 is a classic, clean look but we work in detail and sophistication. I like to think of this as our power suit.
Kit 77 is where we start to have a little fun:
It is cool, but not just for its looks. It’s a good home game option for hot summer day games instead of Kit 99’s black jersey.
Kit 66 is just showing off:
A great night game option. Players are going to love this look. We trade in the classics with this kit and are now appealing to the new fan. This look is going to be talked about a lot more than the turkey day throwbacks the other team in town wears.
Kit 55 makes a splash:
Once in a while, you push the limits, and what’s a summer in Detroit without a bit of sunshine? Some people will hate them, and the rest will love them but they’ll all be talking about the Miners.
In the wild
Unfortunately, the pitch to investors to back the expansion CFL team in Detroit did not "get the ball past the goalline." This was a great project to work on and brought me back to my childhood. It was a pleasure helping in this effort.
MORE BRANDING WORK