LA Clippers rebrand—what designers like (and don’t like) about the refresh

The Los Angeles Clippers have endured much and celebrated little over their 54 years as an NBA franchise. Born as the Buffalo Braves in 1970, they relocated and rebranded as the San Diego Clippers in 1978, then controversially moved to Los Angeles in 1984. They never won so much as a conference title in any of these cities and have won their division only twice. But things have been turning around for the Clippers brand. After their best decade as a franchise in the 2010s, the team is currently leading the Pacific Division and challenging for the Western Conference title. Billionaire owner Steve Ballmer, who purchased the team in 2014 for $2 billion, has led the building of a state-of-the-art arena, the Intuit Dome, where the Clippers will play beginning next season. The move will get the team out of the crowded Crypto.com Arena, which they currently share with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, and their neighbor rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here While the Lakers’ generations of fans and storied history will cast the Clippers as a challenger for as long there are courtside seats to fill, the Clippers intend to look good in that role. On Feb. 26, the team introduced new uniform designs and branding elements to accompany its new address. The new branding seeks to tell a story about the team’s connection to Los Angeles and its history with the sea, while shedding an undistinguished look that prompted some to refer to the team as the “Los Angeles Clip-arts.” An internal team at the Clippers drove the new design with help at different points from agency Doubleday & Cartwright and graphic designer Matthew Wolff, the team said. “We have been on a long journey, gathering feedback and insights from across Clipper Nation,” Gillian Zucker, president of business operations for the L.A. Clippers and Intuit Dome, said in a press release. “We listened to as many voices as we could and then engaged specialists to arrive at a timeless design that blends bedrocks of our past and our future. Our new marks are meaningful and strong, capturing our roots and our aspirations.” Lofty ambitions for sure, but how do they play? Ad Age asked a variety of sports-minded brand design pros for their opinions. (Responses have been lightly edited for style and space). New colors, new logos New uniforms in navy blue, white and red replace the royal blue, white and black looks from the current set. The primary Clippers wordmark modernizes a script logo the Clippers wore for many years. A script “LA” replaces the “LAC basketball court” design on the waistband. The red alternate uniform reading “Los Angeles” includes a script waistband patch reading “Clips.” Elliott Curtis, VP of creative, Game Seven Marketing: I really like them. I feel they’re very timeless though they might be a little bit boring to some folks. I like the script. They are one of the only franchises that consistently has had a script uniform for the past 20 years. They went with more of a timeless navy and a warmer red where before they had a royal blue that was a little more vibrant. This is a little more foundational. You can depend on Nike every year to do these City Edition jerseys and they get kind of crazy with them. That’s where I think they’ll add a lot of flair, but I think their base uniform and logo set is going for a timeless treatment. Also read: Top 5 logo changes of 2023 Matt Sia, creative director, Pearlfisher: The jersey design and nod to the original script are great. I like how they’ve achieved a strong balance of heritage—crafting the script while maintaining simplicity with the application and use of color. It feels spot-on. Bold, clean and confident while staying true to the team’s heritage look. Also, the treatment of “Los Angeles” as an alternative for “Clippers” on the red jersey was a really nice touch. Ross Clugston, chief creative officer, Design Bridge and Partners: I think the script is wonderful. It’s built on a heritage base, which is great. What I think is good is the restraint. It’s Steve Ballmer at the helm and if you’ve been to a Clippers game it’s like going to a rock concert. It’s a bit over the top, there’s way too many fireworks. It’s really loud. Anything that Steve Ballmer does—and I mean this with fondness—is always over the top. So I think it’s such a relief that they've pulled it in a little bit and they can be taken a little more seriously than the antagonizers of the league, the crybabies of the league, as they have been known in the past. Joe Violante, executive creative director, CBX: The red, white and blue color palette is a nod to the team’s past and an equity that leverages nicely with three uniform options ... one being all white, one being solid blue, and one being bold red. Very USA, “Dream Team” like. The more variations in color, the more merchandising opportunities and options for their fans. And kudos to the Clippers for avoiding yet another, over-used all-black uniform. Let’s talk typography: The upward-moving script has a nice, throw-back quality, somewhat reminiscent of their baseball neighbors, the L.A. Dodgers. Sprawled across the chest of the jerseys, it maximizes brand name impression and has that “cool/proud of my team” factor. Joe Fuller, design director, Loyalkaspar: I’m a fan of the refined script typeface and the details they have incorporated in all their type designs. The jerseys look classic and uncluttered—the red pops on this new deep blue! Their look has matured significantly from the “we have branding at home” aesthetic fans have endured since 2015. The icon The new primary logo features a Clippers “C” that surrounds the points of a compass and an oncoming sailing ship. The design on the ship’s hull resembles the seams on a basketball. The logo, which will appear on uniform shorts and at center court of the new arena, is a nod to the organization’s nautical roots in San Diego (a “Clipper” is a fast-sailing ship). Curtis: The main icon graphic—the C, with a compass, and the ship’s hull—there’s a lot going on with that. It’s an optical assault to unpack. Sia: Not knowing the details of the brief, what doesn’t work for me is the execution of the new icon/seal. There are elements that feel as though they were created separately, and then combined into one icon. It feels like it’s trying to do too many slightly different things. The Icon resembles more of a cruise ship in crosshairs than a clipper/sailing ship locked to a compass. It also feels inconsistent in style and weight to other elements within the icon. Incorporating the compass, the large “C” and the seams of a basketball on the lower half make sense–but again, feel as though they were done in isolation [and] later combined to do too many things at once. Fuller: The seal incorporates many elements without looking cool or having as much fun as their new LA monogram. I can’t help but wonder what else the logo could be. I’ve seen more compelling fan renditions over the years. Clugston: I don’t love the ship. I think it’s a little too abstract for basketball. It’s a see-and-say moment—we’re called the Clippers so we should have a boat. It’s not like the Lakers have a lake. The boat is a bit of a swing and a miss but everything else is beautiful. Violante: Building off its original San Diego heritage and Pacific location, the clipper ship makes sense. Trouble is, this new icon encapsulated in a compass-like device looks more like a cruise ship pulling into port. I would have recommended a classic, side view of an authentic Clipper ship with billowing sails and a forward thrust from bow to stern ... gliding the court like a James Harden or Paul George. The nautical theme Red alternate uniforms have “Los Angeles” in blue script and maritime signal flags on the sides of the jersey that spell out LAC. The logo features a custom typeface inspired by Naval typography, according to the team. The “N” in “Los Angeles” points north. Curtis: I love that they’ve leaned into this nautical theme. Their identity didn’t have any theme. It was a bit generic, where people were calling them the Los Angeles Clip-arts instead of the Clippers. Their logo was based on the dimensions of a basketball court, and that’s the least ownable thing in a basketball league. Having that theme allows you to have all of these extensions when it comes to graphics and titles and fan experiences—think of all the fun ways you could have fun with ship themes and the ocean theme. And knowing how obsessed Steve Ballmer is with beating the Lakers, what’s bigger than a lake? The ocean. Violante: I do love the new uniforms … as they embrace the Clippers’ naval origin on the sides with nautical flags that actually code-out L-A-C. Very clever and designed with simplicity. … The compass idea relates to the nautical theme, but is somewhat subtle in nature, and as that nautical theme extends to various locations on the court, I find it a reach for the average fan to pick up on it. Sia: The typography is claimed to be naval-inspired, though I don’t feel it delivers on this. The story could have benefited from a more distinctive typeface clearly connected to a naval or maritime aesthetic. The serif treatments look similar, in style, to that of the type for the Golden State Warriors—a watchout, given the locality of both teams. Additionally, not an ideal type treatment to curve around the circle, and lacking a sense of timelessness. Clugston: I think the boat is a little bit of a bet on the San Pedro-Long Beach contingent. It’s an underdeveloped area in terms of restaurants and nightlife, particularly the port. But there’s a huge amount of development going on there at the waterfront. I can’t help but guess this is staking that claim. We’re going to be all about this part of L.A., the more working class. The team has heritage in that already, while the Lakers are always going to be the celeb team. As that area of L.A. develops, I think [the Clippers] are positioning themselves to be all about the new L.A., which is smart. The Clippers brand strategy Sia: This renewal tells me that the organization is attempting to connect more meaningfully with their roots, while bringing a fresh perspective to their brand symbol. That being said, unfortunately the final execution of this symbol does not feel cohesive in my opinion. This was a missed opportunity to create a bold, iconic symbol that didn’t feel overly stylized or lacking cohesion. Opportunities like this don't happen so often. There’s so much value in finding distinctive solutions that add character, not complexity—to tell a progressive, branded team story. Clugston: I’m an avid NBA fan and I live in San Pedro, which is Clipperland. I feel relief, actually. They’ve been amiss for some time. It goes hand-in-hand with them being known as the most hated team in the NBA forever. So this is a little bit of a reset that coincides with them doing extremely well, which is great timing … They’ve always been second-rate to the Lakers in terms of reputation and brand, so I think it is about time they had a bit of a glow-up. Curtis: Whenever teams release new logos there are always people on both sides of the fence, but I think it’s a clean and foundational direction with that nice nautical theme. What I really like is they are a lot more ownable than what they had recently. And their owner, Steve Ballmer, is obsessed with ownability. In a town that’s really a Laker town, he’s been trying to build the Clipper Nation identity. Violante: Credit to the designer who created a cohesive system with brand assets that attempt to gel and tell a unique brand story. Game on for the Clippers and their fans next year with this brand launch. We’ll see if the new look catches wind in its sails or sinks. We’ll leave it to the fans to determine that. Fuller: The Clippers have been a good team and this year’s roster is their most star-laden, salary-ambitious bid to win a chip. Only health and a seven-foot Serbian man [the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić] stand between them and basketball immortality. Next season they will be moving out of the basement of the ‘Crypt’ into the Intuit arena and can reintroduce themselves to their fans. A new look to adorn the arena and fresh gear to fill the team store only makes sense to give fans a special experience while maximizing profits. It helps that the new look is a modernization of their heritage, safe in many ways, as long as they keep the logo small.

LA Clippers rebrand—what designers like (and don’t like) about the refresh

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