Created in conjunction with RARE Design | rare.design

I recently got the chance to work on a full rebrand for Clarksville Parks & Recreation. I teamed up with my good friend @chris_topher_thomas to build a full identity for them, which will be seen on their website, social media and in their parks and facilities. I created the primary and secondary logos and then Chris and I built out an icon set and additional elements.

When it came to the icon set, we wanted to weave in bits and pieces of Clarksville’s heritage. Greenways, cannons from Fort Defiance and the Clarksville Bridge are all prominently featured. They were illustrated to mimic the monolinear style of the primary mark, which features a “C” and “P” that form a tree, representing “Clarksville Parks”. Using the brand guidelines that we built out, our bud @cold.snack put together signage that will be visible in all park. The logo will also appear on apparel, collateral, and fleet vehicles.

Growing up you could often find me playing Mutant League Football on the Sega Genesis, a parody of the ever popular “Madden” franchise. Well when I heard that the creator of the original game was planning a reboot entitled “Mutant Football League”, I knew I had to be a part of it somehow. I got together with the dev team and they asked me to design a team for their new DLC, the “Killadelphia Evils”, a parody of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. In my mind it doesn’t get more sinister than a demonic undead horned creature with giant claws. The Evils were released in Q1 of 2018 just as their NFL counterpart were gearing up for their eventual Super Bowl Win.

The Knoxville Ice Bears of the SPHL have a geographical relationship with the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League. As a Nashville native who grew up watching the Predators, I couldn’t have been more excited when the Bears decided to host Preds Night. I designed a crest featuring Bridgestone Arena, the home of the Preds since ‘98. Gnash, Nashville’s mascot, sits front and center holding a catfish representing a long-standing playoff tradition where fans lob catfish onto the ice. The jersey was made to mimic the sweater the NHL club wears. I worked directly with the Predators from the beginning to ensure the jerseys were on-brand, and eventually received the club’s approval. Gnash even made the trip to help show Knoxville’s fans how they do it in Smashville!

The Ice Bears weren’t the first team in town. Luckily they celebrate the clubs that came before them. The Bears held a Legends Night, where they encouraged players from years gone by to suit up for an alumni game. There were former players from the Knoxville Ice Bears (’02-Present, SPHL/SEHL/ACHL), the Knoxville Speed (’99-’02, UHL), and the Knoxville Cherokees (‘88-97, ECHL). They were split into two teams for an alumni game, with each team being coached by former players from Knoxville’s originalteam, the Knoxville Knights (61-’68, EHL). The Alumni game was followed by an Ice Bears game, where the players donned Legends jerseys of their own. 

The Knoxville Ice Bears of the Southern Professional Hockey League hold many events recognizing Veterans of the UnitedStates military. For 2016, they decided to devote one of their speciality jersey nights to pay tribute. I took the Ice Bear from their primary logo and suited him up for the crest. He’s seen saluting the veterans, with dog-tags around his neck standing against the flag. Underneath, a folded flag paying tribute to our fallen soldiers finishes off the crest’s shape. The jersey features all major branches of the military, with the Air Force flying overhead, and soldiers from both the Army and Navy saluting at the bottom with a battleship in the background.

Do you want to see a competitive on-ice race featuring dozens of frantic barking wiener dogs? Want to see a hockey game in between the races? Don’t you think the players should be wearing dachshund themed jerseys? That’s what I thought. One of the crazier promotions in hockey, and a southern staple. I developed a logo for the races, but rather than just slap a crest on a jersey and call it a day, I opted to slam an oversized wiener dog head on the the front of the sweaters. Harking back to the 90’s era uniform design seemed fitting given the promotion. The races were intense, the dogs were running wild and the crowd went crazy.

The Southern Professional Hockey League has been around since 2004. The Knoxville Ice Bears have won four S.P.H.L. President’s Cup Championships. Four championships in the span of a decade? That’s what I call cause for celebration! I had the chance to create a logo and jersey to honor the occasion, and had the idea to incorporate the photo taken of the team posing with the championship post-game. I slapped that on both the front and back of the jersey, and faded it into a black jersey with orange piping that would make silver and white crest seem to jump off of the jersey. The crest itself features a triumphant player hoisting the President’s Trophy over his head in celebration.

Created in conjunction with RARE Design | rare.design

Everybody loves Star Wars. That’s why most sports teams have Star Wars themed specialty nights. But notevery sports team is willing to re-brand their team for a night. I was tasked with creating a logo and jersey design for the Knoxville Ice Bears’ Star Wars night, so I figured “What’s the series’ equivalent of an Ice Bear?”.That, my friend, would be a Wampa. Better known as the giant ice monster that Luke Skywalker has a run-in with in “The Empire Strikes Back”. So, for one night only, the Ice Bears were transformed into the “Planet Hoth Wampas”. The jerseys featured AT-ATs, AT-STs, snow speeders, turrets, even Hoth’s three moons can be seen in the background. I had to submit the proposed designs to Disney and Lucasfilm for approval. Luckily they were well-received and they went as far as to request a jersey for themselves to hang in their corporate office.