KEVIN HALL is the Principal and Creative Director of Kevin Hall Design, an award-winning graphic design firm founded in 1993. The firm is located in Milford CT, nestled between the cities of Bridgeport and New Haven. In the beginning, the firm serviced mostly food and beverage clients, but soon after would begin to create branding and marketing for sports teams as well. Previously, Hall held positions as Designer/Art Director with General Foods Corporation in White Plains NY and Marketing Corporation of America in Westport CT.
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Connecticut sports teams, past and present, may perhaps live in the shadows of our neighboring big cities like New York and Boston, but the excellent branding and creative work produced by Connecticut’s branding consultants and graphic designers back in the ‘90s should not be overlooked. As one of a few graphic designers who has specialized in sports team branding here in Connecticut, I’d like to look back and tell the story of how we’ve assisted sports teams during the height of their emergence in our state, particularly during the 1990’s and the designers who were the key players in these endeavors.
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This story should rightfully begin in 1979 with the emergence of the NHL’s Hartford Whalers and its logo designed by Connecticut’s legendary Graphic Designer Peter Good. As my friend Peter would say, it was rare that a major sports team franchise would call upon a small design firm to design their branding program. Over time, the Whalers logo would become one of the most popular and admired sports team logos of all time.
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Fast forward to the ‘90s and the sudden emergence of a multitude of new sports teams entering into the state all in need of team branding. The proliferation of teams entering Connecticut seemed to reach a fever pitch during this period of time. Several minor league teams affiliated with teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL) came in need of branding services. Assessing what was taking place, I saw an opportunity to offer our services to these new teams. I would pay close attention to news reports to learn of any new sports teams arriving. Myself and other design firms were all in hot pursuit for the opportunity to become the design firm of record to provide branding services to these new teams. Although we were competing for the same branding assignments, fortunately, there seemed to be enough work to go around. Team GM’s were very willing to hire local design firms, despite having many other options.
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Deadlines for developing sports branding programs were usually very tight. For example, in 1993 a new team from the Roller Hockey International League rolled into town looking to play summer hockey in the New Haven Coliseum that had a seating capacity of better than 8,000 people. My firm was commissioned to design the logo/identity work. The only problem was we were given just about 2 weeks to come up with a branding program to adequately represent the team. “No Problem” I said and we proceeded to do the work expeditiously. Teams were also very mindful of popular and trendsetting colors. Colors such as teal blue, purple and black were often requested. Teams would use the appeal of these colors to bolster sales of team merchandise.
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From a designers perspective, there were many rewarding moments leading up to a team’s opening game such as seeing our logo being introduced at a press conference or watching Connecticut news programs showing players wearing team uniforms featuring our work.
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I would like to acknowledge many of our state’s creative and talented designers who played key roles in designing many of the sports team branding programs during that period of time. Bill Silverman of the Silverman Group, designer of the very familiar “Starter” logo and a great many other exceptional and creative sports team logos. Patrick McDarby, another talented designer who I happened to cross paths with at a Kinko’s store. At the time, he was designing for a NYC sports branding firm, but would later venture out on his own.
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My firm would also play an active role in the branding of many Connecticut sports teams as well. The aforementioned designers all sought to capture the essence and spirit of the logos they designed and would make significant contributions to the sports industry here in Connecticut and beyond. These sports team logo designers all had a passion and love for sports and it showed in all their work.
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All in all, it was a great time back in the ’90s to be a graphic designer of sports team branding here in Connecticut.
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