brandIDENTITY: Utah Jazz

[tBBP]

Been a while since y'all have seen a concept set out of me, hasn't it? I've been out the box for a lil' minute, but I'm back now and starting to catch back up...

Lately, there's been much buzz about the prospect of (yet another) new Utah Jazz identity set/uniforms. I'm not at all surprised--I've long thought their current stuff is about as plain as white bread. (That the Jazz were also the latest to hop on the two-hue-of-blue bandwagon only made matters worse.) I understand many Jazz fans weren't too keen of the late '90s identity (which I will heretofore refer as the "mountain ball" era); I actually loved it, since it had many distinctive elements, chief among them being their unique team typography and use of regional imagery. Product of the '90s? Sure, but to me, that doesn't automatically deem that identity bad or dated, as so many in this day and age are inclined to believe about sports identities crafted during that timeframe.

This season, the Jazz decided to roll out a new version of the rare green Jazz uniforms used for about a season or two (I believe) as alt unis, and much like the two-hue-of-blue stuff at the time of inception, Jazz land seemingly jumped all over it--so much so that rumors started spreading that the forthcoming identity might actually contain green, along with some shade of blue and possibly gold (athletic or otherwise). It also appears the music note logo is making its return to full-time primary logo duty, in some way, shape or form, along with this new identity.

All that got me to thinking...

...In my mind, there's really only two ways the Jazz could go with their next identity: either play up the "music imagery" end (in effect, much like bohob's recent Jazz concept design), or play up the imagery of the Wasatch region. For this set, I chose the latter. This isn't the first basketball concept design I've done (for that matter, this isn't even my first Jazz concept; this was), but my newly renewed fandom in basketball helped jumpstart a creative spark (well, that combined with the advent of "Snowmaggedon" up here in the Baltimore/DC area)-- plus it gave me a chance to test out some of this basketball stuff I've had sitting unused for the longest time. So here's what I did...

...What's old is new again for this concept set--well, sort of. Going off the rumors I've read, I decided to depart from the purple route and pursue this new green, blue, and gold thing. I studied several combos, and came up with one I felt would both be unique to NBA as well as represent the imagery of the Wasatch region--a nice, deep green to serve as a base; a stronger and brighter sky blue as a "bounce"; and a lightened shade of vegas gold as an accent (yellow-gold would have been overkill). I've always loved the (previous version of the) Jazz primary logo; it returns in recolored form (which I believe shows off my selected colors nicely). I also drafted a "Utah" script to match, made a new logo out of it, kept the mountainball logo, and eventually came up with a new music note logo to match (that took some work). The "mountain ball" era numbers also return--shadows and all--in updated form. For the uniforms, I pretty much went for a fusion of the mountain-ball era and current era--then decided to do something a little different with the side panels, the idea of which came from studying photos of the Wasatch sky.

So what did all that lead to? See below...

(For those curious, Jeff Hornacek was one of my favorite Jazz players.)

The C&C I receive from what I've posted thus far will determine where I go next with this set (for those curious, I've got more in store for this)...in the meantime, hit me with what you got...I'll be around.

~Buc

[Bmac]

I really like how the side panels fade from one color into another. Very cool. Great use of colors as well. Nice job.

[ESTONES6]

The main logo is nice... and the ball logo is nice. Not sure about the music note logo. The uniform def is not working. The faded colors seems like something from those horrible late 90's early 90's uniforms.

The colors def threw me for a loop. The green and blue seem to clash way too much. It kinda hurts the eyes to be honest. I would dull down the blue a little bit... it is just too much.

[JayJaxon]

I love the way you did the gradient. It looks perfect for this set. Everything else looks top notch as well.

[TornadoGTS]

I really like this set, logos and unis.

[CJworks]

This looks incredible, but I just can't get past the fact that the color choice is really dull and poor. I just do not have a liking for the poor contrast the two have, and the gold seems like an afterthought.

On the other hand, this might look amazing in their current colors, sky blue and purple. In my opinion, those colors are one of the best in the league.

[kbaker19]

Wow, that's great. Love that color combo too.

[The_Admiral]

As someone who also loved that Jazz logo and will favor Wasatch imagery over music imagery in every Utah Jazz concept, I'm a fan. Your Utah script is very cool, and would've been an excellent addition to their late '90s road uniforms. I really like the gradient side panels, too. That's the best way to update the gradients of the mountain uniforms, by scaling them back to something less garish (as much as I loved those uniforms the white gradient on purple doesn't look so hot now). The color scheme is really good, but I still believe in purple being the Jazz's primary color, and so the original 1996 colors would be even better. But these are still good. Sky blue and pine green fit very well. I like your cross between the mountain ball and the J-note. While the whole idea of the 1996 redesign was to strip any vestigial music imagery from the New Orleans days and just be a team from Utah, there are enough J-note fanatics out there that one has to give them a nod. It's kinda like how the Rays made an enormous stink about no longer being the Devil Rays and then kept the devil ray as a sleeve patch so as not to alienate any of what few fans they have.

Overall, great work, and sorry about the two feet of snow.

[jdlopz]

I like the colors, and the gradient on the side panels. Good Job.

[bohob]

I understand what you were going for, but the fade might work better if done a la Nike Pro Combat Virginia Tech style, but with snowflakes. I also think the dark green and light blue would complement each other better if you pushed them closer to what Tulane uses (make the green a touch darker and the light blue more columbia, less cyan. I really like the western j-note. I will say this, if the Grizzlies ever move to Seattle, the green would have a hard time making it, but given that situation doesn't currently exist, good work.

[Wasatch]

I?m back 2 months late posting on this thread but I have to say, as a life-long Jazz fan, I think the organization needs to distance itself from the mountains for a decade or so, and go back to something very similar to the original logo. Also if I remember correctly, the greenish teal color was one of the worst elements of the logo below.

[knnhrvy16]

Now THAT is very nice!! I love the colors and how you executed them - as a huge lifelong Jazz fan I would be pleased if this look was adopted. I think the colors are great because they epitomize Utah perfectly; green for the forests and mountains, sky blue for the snowcaps and the Salt Lake, and sand can represent the many deserts and sand dunes here as well. I grew up in the mountains era, so I am obviously partial to it as it is how my Jazz looked in my childhood, so I'm glad to see it remain and have an influence. Great job, this Jazz fan approves!

[The_Admiral]

I think the colors are supposed to represent copper, evergreens, skies, mountains, and snow. Good Utahn color palette. Never ever ever should've dropped it.