The 1993 LA Clippers Redesign that Never Was

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The 1993 LA Clippers Redesign that Never Was

May 14, 2020 - 16:57 PM

In 1991, the Los Angeles Clippers came to NBA Creative Services, looking for a redesign. Tom O’Grady, later the founder of Gameplan Creative, and his team of creatives at the NBA took up the task. I spoke briefly to Tom […]

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[MCM0313]

There can be no doubt that, had this gone through, the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies would have begun their existence with a different color scheme and uniform design than they ultimately did. 

[gosioux76]

Just now, MCM0313 said:

There can be no doubt that, had this gone through, the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies would have begun their existence with a different color scheme and uniform design that they ultimately did. 

I was just coming to post the same thing. It's remarkable how similar this is to what the Grizzlies eventually used. It's proof that design ideas don't get wasted when a project gets scrapped. 

[_DietDrPepper_]

Remove the circle from the numbers on the back and then it becomes the best the clippers ever looked, its not great but it's vastly better than what they have right now and what they had at the time. 

[WSU151]

Seems like a light blue would have been a far better color to use (though the Cavs ended up using light blue/orange/black).  I know the Sharks use teal, but I've always associated Pacific imagery as more blue, while I associate the South Florida waters as teal. 

 

We brought it up before in the NBA thread, but the San Diego Gulls black/orange/light blue works for the area. 

[gosioux76]

12 minutes ago, WSU151 said:

Seems like a light blue would have been a far better color to use (though the Cavs ended up using light blue/orange/black).  I know the Sharks use teal, but I've always associated Pacific imagery as more blue, while I associate the South Florida waters as teal. 

 

We brought it up before in the NBA thread, but the San Diego Gulls black/orange/light blue works for the area. 

 

That would also match with the club's prior San Diego Clippers look. 

 

[Krz]

I love it! Reminds me of the swamp dragons one he did a while back.

[Lights Out]

Looking at all the material, this identity was a clipper-ship logo away from being amazing. It's a shame that it never came to fruition, although we did at least get another 20+ years of the classic baseball-style scripts as a nice consolation prize.

 

It's also interesting how similar the "LAC" alternate logo from that proposal is to the one that the team is using right now.

[MCM0313]

1 hour ago, _DietDrPepper_ said:

Remove the circle from the numbers on the back and then it becomes the best the clippers ever looked, its not great but it's vastly better than what they have right now and what they had at the time. 

Eh, I kinda like the circles on the back, in a wacky-90s kind of way. 

[The_Admiral]

If the Clippers had been talked into moving to Anaheim full-time in 1993 and switched to green, orange, and black, that would have been pretty neat. They probably would have moved back downtown in 1999 and gone back to ripping off the Lakers, but it would have been an interesting blip.

[gosioux76]

1 minute ago, the admiral said:

If the Clippers had been talked into moving to Anaheim full-time in 1993 and switched to green, orange, and black, that would have been pretty neat. They probably would have moved back downtown in 1999 and gone back to ripping off the Lakers, but it would have been an interesting blip.

Yeah, that's really interesting. I think that green color (seafoam?) would've grown stale after a while, though. This feels like a distinctly '90s color palette, akin to the Grant Hill-era Pistons identity crisis. 

[Conrad.]

58 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

Yeah, that's really interesting. I think that green color (seafoam?) would've grown stale after a while, though. This feels like a distinctly '90s color palette, akin to the Grant Hill-era Pistons identity crisis. 

Agreed. It's certainly a color-scheme-of-the-times. Now would they have gone back to RWB? Or would they finally have come to their senses and returned to what I think is the superior color scheme of sky blue / orange / white (and maybe navy)?

[The_Admiral]

Sterling would have gone back to red/white/blue because it reminded him of the Harlem Globetrotters and he didn't like the way The Blacks looked in green. 

[j'villejags]

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

Sterling would have gone back to red/white/blue because it reminded him of the Harlem Globetrotters and he didn't like the way The Blacks looked in green. 

[BenchOnaQUEST]

1 hour ago, Conrad. said:

Agreed. It's certainly a color-scheme-of-the-times. Now would they have gone back to RWB? Or would they finally have come to their senses and returned to what I think is the superior color scheme of sky blue / orange / white (and maybe navy)?

Hey Conrad, 
 I was just looking at that design on your tweets from 2017.. For some reason I thought that this re-design was suggested in 2015... But the article says “1991”.

 Has this concept been suggested to the Clippers on two separate occasions - in 1991 AND in 2015? Please, correct me if I’m wrong.

[Conrad.]

1 minute ago, BenchOnaQUEST said:

Hey Conrad, 
 I was just looking at that design on your tweets from 2017.. For some reason I thought that this re-design was suggested in 2015... But the article says “1991”.

 Has this concept been suggested to the Clippers on two separate occasions - in 1991 AND in 2015? Please, correct me if I’m wrong.

It was only in 1991. I tweeted that in 2015 because someone mentioned it and I had heard rumors of the full story for years and was hoping that someone had more info for me. I guess it took me 5 years to get around to actually writing the story and making the art! Ooops!

[BenchOnaQUEST]

8 minutes ago, Conrad. said:

It was only in 1991. I tweeted that in 2015 because someone mentioned it and I had heard rumors of the full story for years and was hoping that someone had more info for me. I guess it took me 5 years to get around to actually writing the story and making the art! Ooops!

 

Thanks for clarifying. So, if you could just the shed some more light please, did you have any participation in that 1991 Clippers design concept?

[VikWings]

Speaking specifically of the logo, I don't mind it. Interesting colors with teal black and orange. I'm sure it would have evolved a bit now 30 years later, maybe teal becomes the San Diego baby blue, but even as is it's also so much better than the NBA Live logo they currently use.

 

The circle around the numbers kills the whole uniform though.

[pluggerplugger1]

2 hours ago, Conrad. said:

Agreed. It's certainly a color-scheme-of-the-times. Now would they have gone back to RWB? Or would they finally have come to their senses and returned to what I think is the superior color scheme of sky blue / orange / white (and maybe navy)?

 

This is what I wondered initially after reading the article. I don't think they would've stuck with this seafoam & orange look for more than ~8 years tops, but I wonder if it could've served as a gateway for them to go back to sky blue and orange (whether that be them simply recoloring the seafoam logo or going in another direction).

[Brian in Boston]

        

 

    

In my opinion, this is the branding direction that would best serve the Los Angeles Clippers. Bring back the alphanumeric font and overall design from their early LA uniforms. For a color scheme, return to the Sky Blue and Orange from their days in San Diego (in fact, celebrate the franchise's entire history by using the particular shade of Orange from their time in Buffalo), and - as an accent color - the shade of Blue from their first three seasons in Los Angeles. Then, as far as a logo is concerned, lean into nautical imagery. If they're going to hang onto the Clippers name, they shouldn't be afraid to own nautical iconography in their logo. From their proposed new arena in Inglewood, the Clippers will be just six miles from the Pacific Ocean.