Project Overview: It's time for the WNBA to expand as it continues to receive more attention. I thought I would try my hand at branding the new WNBA team that the Golden State franchise recently purchased. Since the NBA Warriors, who represent Golden State, are well-known for wearing royal blue and gold, I decided to stay true to their brand. While creating the logo my primary goal was to experiment with typography and have that be the main focus of the piece.

Research: To begin my design process I start with researching my subject and creating a moodboard to base my ideas off of. On my moodboard, I included images of valkyries, their various weaponry, a color scheme, the Golden State Warriors logo/merchandise, as well as logos based on valkyries. 

Initial Sketch to Final Logo: It was difficult for me to choose a logo concept at first that would strike a balance between eye-catching appeal and simplicity and still be readable at a tiny size. After experimenting on Adobe Illustrator with a lot of different ideas, I combined different components to create my final logo. I decided to go with my original logo concept's typeface, (bottom right), because I thought it went well with my theme. After deciding that the original designs needed to be simplified, I highlighted a basketball as the main feature and illustrated new valkyrie wings to complement it. 

Jersey Design: My goal when creating the team uniforms was to make the players appear as though they had wings, just like the mascot. A shortened form of the word "Valykries" appears on the front, and the numbers are enhanced with a font that gives off a "electric" sense. (a common theme that pairs with Valkyries)

Court Design: I wanted to keep the designs of the court simple. As a basketball player, I can attest that it can occasionally be more difficult to play on courts that have an excessively "busy" appearance. Like I did with the color scheme previously, I kept my designs extremely simple and modeled it after the Golden State Warriors court.

Brand Board: Here is a branding board I would share with the franchise with accompanying fonts, alternate logos, web icons and a color palette. 

Reflection: Throughout the branding process, I discovered that I took part in an ongoing cycle of growth and learning, with each stage pushing me further in my pursuit for the continuing development of my design skills. Every choice I made, from typeface to color schemes, gave me the chance to develop my creative abilities and broaden my artistic horizons. Challenges, like overcomplicating designs, became growth-promoting catalysts, pushing me to take risks and look for new solutions. In the end, I am proud of my designs and am excited for further branding training, particularly being able to incorporate depth into my design instead of just a logo at face value. 

Credits: I would like to credit the Golden State Warriors NBA franchise as I based a lot of my design work for this project off them.