Legends are immortal but even superheroes need emblems. The team insignia is a power symbol. It represents an passionate bond between a team and its region. Behind the drawing power of these well recognised images is an artist, often unknown, that hatches out the concepts that become the flags of our pride and admiration.

Design firm PLAN B. BRANDING sat down with us to shed light on designing icons and what goes into the branding of a sports team.

sFs: Please describe the type of services your provide to your clients.

PBB: Plan B. Branding is a San Diego-grown creative ideas company specializing in storytelling and developing baseball brands. We’ve collaborated with more than 20 minor league clubs to dream up team names, logos, uniforms and mascots. Last year, Major League Baseball asked us to create a branding campaign for the World Series, and modernize the look of the Cincinnati Reds.

THE FULL INTERVIEW CONTINUES AFTER THE JUMP >>

sFs: How did PLAN B. BRANDING begin? What was Plan A? What made you decide to focus on branding sports teams instead of - let’s say, designing for spirits and beverages?

PBB: (laughing) Casey and I have been best friends since kindergarten. We grew up collaborating on all types of classic projects: scripted home movies, screen-printing out of our garages. In college we were asked to develop logos for a new high school in our hometown of San Diego. I was at the University of Alabama, and Casey was at Pratt in Brooklyn. A few high school logos later (and looking for college beer money), we started designing sports logos out of our dorm rooms. I guess we WERE designing for spirits and beverages! We figured if people didn’t like the logos they had, we might be their Plan B.

sFs: When we think of company logos, certain examples come to mind: IBM, COKE, MCDONALD’S, FED EX, WARNER BROS. What makes a corporate identity become an instant recall in the minds of billions?

PBB: Branding is much more than logo design. A brand is the experience people have with your company - or sports team. A logo stands for that experience. The most recognized brands usually have a power product or experience. Sometimes a logo is recognized because the company’s experience is terrible!

Sports are no different. You can have the best logo in the world, but if fans don’t have a great time they won’t buy your merchandise. When a fan buys a retail item, they’re saying, “This team or experience was great, I want a keepsake.” Wearing team apparel publicly makes the statement that your experience is worthy enough to identify with. That’s how sports are different. Nobody’s wearing an IBM shirt and painting their face blue.

sFs: Fans have a passionate connection with their team. When you are developing a team’s signature identity, you are tapping into something many regard as sacred. Does the pressure ever to live up to a whole community’s expectations affect the work?

PBB: You’re right on. The Yankees and the Red Sox don’t sell a lot of merchandise because their logos are anything special - their brands stand for something unique in the hearts and minds of their fans. And to own the heart of fan, you have to define this soul, and communicate it through every point your fans come in contact with your brand. Only then will you sell a lot of merchandise.

So we begin by visiting every club’s hometown, meet with their entire staff, spend time with their fans, and eat at local hangouts. We immerse ourselves in their city, and uncover those community expectations directly. By doing this homework it elevates the pressure.

sFs: Which is a more challenging situation: Revamping a pre-existing logo or building one from scratch?

PBB: Both are challenging, the key is finding inspiration.

When you build one from scratch, the brand is a blank canvas. An example is our work with the Clearwater Threshers. When we arrived in Clearwater, they were considering several names. Number one was the Beach Dogs, which people loved or hated, and the Sand Sharks, which kids liked but it wasn’t aggressive enough. There were also the Barracudas and King Fish.

We decided to visit the Clearwater docks to ask local fishermen what they’re pulling out of the water. One fisherman told us about this mysterious shark with a long tail the beats it’s prey to death, a Thresher shark. We though, “That’s COOL!” From that point we developed the whole Florida / Ocean experience. We launched the brand by covering the city with billboards that just said, “Clearwater Beaches Are No Longer Safe.” There was a silhouette of a shark, but nothing else. The board of tourism received phone calls from concerned citizens. Before the team even had a name, they were part of Clearwater pop culture. It was fantastic. So in Clearwater, we had to develop new rituals and traditions, icons and experiences from scratch.

The Tulsa Drillers is an example of revamping a pre-existing logo. Tulsa already had a heart and soul, traditions, heritage and even a theme song. The challenge was brining everything together and communicating the experience and identity in a clear way. Tulsa is the Original Oil Capital of the World … Oil Tycoons, Cadillacs with Bull Horns, and the mighty pursuit of Black Gold. The identity was made to look mythical and industrial. We also produced gas-station attendant uniforms for staff members and resurrected a throwback line of 1950s “Tulsa Oilers” baseball apparel.

sFs: Fitted caps are an obvious tie-in to the work you do. What qualities about a baseball cap challenge you in a way another garment or other end application might not?

PBB: Colors play an important role. There’s limitless ink colors, less thread colors, and even less fabric colors. You often have to select simple team colors based on what’s available in uniform fabric. We always like to add a more unique ZING! color. This color may not be available in jersey fabric, but can be embroidered on a sleeve patch or cap. You have look at all uniforms parts at once, and see where you might add unique colors. That’s where cap production comes into play.

Plus, NEW ERA is always introducing new materials: Glow-in-the-Dark thread, rein stones, patterns, etc. The more materials they produce the more we all have to play with.

sFs: Do you keep samples of team caps of your clients? Any particular favorites- or is that bad for business to admit on record? LOL

PBB: (laughing) Our favorite caps are the teams with the best stories, because their cap represents that story. Critics might not like the cap design, but we love it for the story - think about the Yankees and Red Sox! It’s interesting, we tend to keep samples of caps that generate the most buzz in the industry. I think that’s our goal. to create a cap with buzz.

sFs: Is your approach branding sports teams so different than creating the identity of a Fortune 500 Company?

PBB: Yes and No. Both require communicating a story and brining that story into a logo. But ‘passion’ makes sports different. Fans have a more emotional perspective. You’re also part fashion designer. The approach is similar, but in sports you’re more likely to create something authentic. More passion is going into the creation.

sFs: What do words like “dynasty” and “legacy” mean to you? What if any role do they play in the design phase?

PBB: Wow, great question! One level, “winning.” On another level, “traditional or set in our ways.” From a design perspective, owners will try to tell you both mean “classic,” but that’s not always the case. Sometimes they mean “tough” and “powerful.” We always ask owners to go deeper: “Okay, the Lakers and Yankees both had/have dynasties. How are they different dynasties?”

sFs: What sports team branding would you consider the reigning champion based strictly on viewer recall, and smart design?

PBB: (laughing) The Yankees! ‘Smart design’ or ‘good design’ is so subjective. You can’t really judge sports design - fans will always link logos to emotion, which is the goal. You have to measure success in terms of passion. That’s really the goal of the sports logo.

sFs: There are team insignias consisting of one or two letters, team mascots and text logos. What makes you favor one style over the other for a client?

PBB: Generally mascots nationally sell the best, then letters. This is because many little leagues adopt the identities of Minor League Baseball clubs. Kids will say, “Let’s be the Ghosts!” rather than “Let’s have an F on our cap!” Words on caps never really sell well in sports.

sFs: What has been PLAN B’s most successful campaign? How do you measure the success of your designs?

PBB: We measure success two ways: #1 Was the story authentic, did the fans engage, and was the staff inspired? #2 How much merchandise did the club sell? All of our clubs are successful, but the Clearwater Threshers and Lehigh Valley IronPigs stand out. Clearwater sold $250,000 in their first year and Lehigh Valley will sell $500,000 before their inaugural game.

sFs: Looking toward the future, what are your projections for PLAN B’s growth?

PBB: We’re doing very well in Minor League Baseball, so we’ll continue to expand there. We’re also looking at producing our own limited edition caps. One line we’re considering is a “didn’t make the cut” line: team logos that almost became official, but didn’t make the cut.

sFs: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Any shout outs?

PBB: Absolutely! Anyone who’s bought one of our team caps.

www.planbbranding.com