ERIE BOILERS BRAND SYSTEM
As seen on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
When John oliver and the team at last week tonight first revealed that they would be doing a minor league baseball rebrand i was inspired.
Their Rebrand focused on the Erie Seawolves so that is where my research began.
THE ERIE BOILERS
After extensive research it turned out that the solution was with the show that I had been watching all along. Earlier in the season of Last Week Tonight they had covered the story of Anthony Wayne, a war general from Erie, Pennsylvania and it was the perfect story for me to bring to life.
His story begins with his death, after a fight with gout Anthony Wayne succumbed to the illness on December 15th, 1796. Upon his death his family wished for his body’s transport from Erie to his hometown of what is today Radnor, Pennsylvania. To do this a doctor recommended boiling the corpse of the deceased general, to “make the transport of his bones easier.” The rest is history they did just that and despite some of his bones falling out along the way his body now rests in Radnor, and one of the strangest stories in American folklore had been cemented.
INitial sketches
This is a collection of my initial sketches making use of Anthony Wayne a prominent figure in Erie’s history, a boiling pot, and different visual combinations of the name boilers and the city name of Erie.
Additional applications featuring more macabre aspects of the story are also featured using a skeletal hand and an angry pot.
The primary wordmark makes use of a very special component that really drives the meaning of this design. The signature of Anthony Wayne.
By mimicking the unique curls that Wayne used at the start and end letters of his signature I created a ligature to form the “E” in the word “Erie” and create a unique element not often seen in the world of sports.
OUR SIGNATURE
Signature of Anthony Wayne
Boilers Primary Wordmark
BRAND MARK ANALYSIS
ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS
Brand applications
Meant to invoke the logo elements. Use of pinstripes in main jersey meant to add a classic and vintage feel with black pants reminiscent of the pot Anthony Wayne can be found in with gold accents to add pop.
Erie wordmark is used to retain the identity of the city which is the most important element of this branding system.
JOHN OLIVER!!!
Upon finishing my design I had decided to send it in to the show that inspired me to make it, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
And they wrote back! They told me about how much they loved my concept and how they felt it really fit the themes and feel of the show and that they wanted to feature it on their episode alongside their own rebrand. And of course that was an offer that I could not refuse!
